In need of renting a business premises to open a convenience store, Mr. Nghiem Huu Xuan (44 years old, Cau Giay district, Hanoi) recently spent a lot of time hunting for some street-front houses with signs for rent.
Due to limited capital, Mr. Xuan can only rent a house of about 30 - 45 square meters in small, densely populated streets, with a rental price of less than 10 million VND/month.
However, most landlords often require rent to be paid every 3 months and a 1-month deposit, making it difficult for many tenants with limited capital like Mr. Xuan.
"The high price of premises has caused many difficulties for new businesses with limited capital like me. I have asked for rental prices on many streets but have not found a satisfactory premises because the rental price is too high, commonly ranging from 15-60 million VND/m2" - Mr. Xuan said.
The high rental price of street-front houses has also made many people in need like Ms. Nguyen Thi Le (fashion business in Hanoi) "hesitate" and switch to online trading. However, Ms. Le believes that having a fixed location will increase brand recognition. Many street-front houses, even though only 1-2 floors, 30m2 wide, are being rented by the owner for 25 million VND/month, which is a reality.
According to Lao Dong reporters, a series of premises on central streets in Hanoi such as Kim Ma, Nguyen Thai Hoc, Xa Dan (Hanoi) have been vacant recently. Among them, many street-front houses with expensive rental prices have not been able to find tenants since the beginning of 2024.
For example, on Hang Gai Street, many small premises of around 20-30m2 are being advertised for rent at prices of over 20 million VND/month or more. A house on Dinh Liet Street, 100m from Hoan Kiem Lake, with an area of 60m2, is being advertised for rent at 60 million VND/month. Meanwhile, houses in alleys and small streets have lower rental prices, but also fluctuate from 8 - 15 million VND/month, depending on the area.
Mr. Dinh Minh Tuan - Director of the real estate market analysis website Batdongsan.com.vn - informed that from the beginning of 2024 until now, many townhouses are still having difficulty finding tenants. To overcome this situation, landlords will have to adjust prices according to mechanisms, prices more suitable for groups of tenants.
Many real estate experts believe that the situation of unsold premises on many central streets of the capital will be difficult to reduce when rental prices remain high and there is fierce competition from e-commerce and online sales channels.
Regarding rental prices, data recently analyzed by CBRE Vietnam shows that in the next 3 years, retail rental prices in central areas are expected to increase by 7-10% and in non-central areas by 2-3%. Currently, rental prices in central areas have reached nearly 280 USD/m2/month, an increase of 18.5% compared to last year.
