Three years ago, Mr. Nguyen Van Tuan (Nam Tu Liem, Hanoi) decided to spend money to buy a 120m2 plot of land in a suburban area of Hanoi, when witnessing the heat of land auctions in 2021. At that time, land auctions continuously set records, the winning bid price was many times higher than the starting price. Many plots of land were transferred right after the auction with a difference of hundreds of millions of VND, causing land prices in neighboring areas to increase rapidly.
Mr. Tuan believes that this is an attractive investment opportunity, so he decided to buy a plot of land for 43 million VND/m2, a total of 5.16 billion VND. However, when the auctions have calmed down, land prices around the area have also plummeted. Investors who had hoped to resell at a high difference quickly realized that no one wanted to buy at the same price as before. For two years, Mr. Tuan has been selling but no customers have asked to buy. By mid-2024, he was forced to cut losses and resell them for 25 million VND/m2, a loss of more than 2 billion VND compared to the amount spent.
"It was one of my biggest failures in my investment. However, this is also an valuable lesson that helps me learn from my experience in making future decisions. In 2024, when the land auction in the suburbs of Hanoi became a fever again, I did not dare to follow as before. Recently, seeing signs of positive market changes, I bought a plot of land in Hoai Duc, near Ring Road 4, hoping that the value will increase in the future to somewhat make up for my previous mistakes" - Mr. Tuan shared.
Ms. Le Thi Hanh (Van Giang, Hung Yen) also fell into a similar situation when chasing the auction land fever in 2021. When she saw the skyrocketing price of land in the auction area, she hoped that the land in the surrounding area would also benefit. Without hesitation, she spent money to buy a 150m2 plot for 50 million VND/m2, totaling 7.5 billion VND. However, when the fever passed, this land quickly fell into a state of stagnation, and transactions were almost frozen.
Up to now, although land prices on the market have shown signs of recovery, they are still much lower than when she bought them. Currently, the price ranges from 35 - 38 million VND/m2, if she sells at this time, she will lose at least 2 billion VND. "Now it is difficult to sell because few people are interested, I have to wait but I don't know when the price will increase again" - Ms. Hanh said.
Looking back at the auction fever in 2021, Mr. Le Quang Minh, a long-time land broker in Hanoi, said that the market at that time not only pushed up the auctioned land price, but also caused surrounding areas to be inflated.
Many investors who are afraid of missing out on opportunities (FOMO) have poured into buying land near the auction area with the expectation of following suit, but do not calculate the actual liquidity. When the market cools down, these plots of land are almost untradable and the selling price drops very quickly" - Mr. Minh commented.
Entering 2025, the land market shows signs of increasing prices, especially in areas with developed infrastructure. However, many plots of land that were high in price during the previous auction fever have not been able to return to their old peak. Mr. Minh warned that although land prices are increasing, it does not mean that everyone can make a profit. "Investors need to be careful with plots of land with prices too high compared to the general market. If not carefully calculated, it is easy to get stuck, bury capital for a long time and face the risk of losses" - Mr. Minh emphasized.
