Reporters' records show that many streets in central areas of Ho Chi Minh City such as Cach Mang Thang Tam, Dien Bien Phu, Nguyen Trai, Phan Xich Long... are increasingly appearing with "for rent" signs, keeping phone numbers on the glass and walls of the house.
Mr. Doan Quoc Viet, residing in District 3, Ho Chi Minh City, said that his family has a townhouse on Nguyen Van Troi Street, Phu Nhuan District that used to have a good rental yield with a space of about 130 m2, and had a rental price of 90 million VND per month. However, since mid-2024, his tenant, a business in the fashion industry, has not extended his contract because he switched to an online business model to reduce costs.
Since then, although many brokerage firms have been approved and have also offered reduced prices to find customers, there are still no tenants. He added that not far from his house, there are also three adjacent premises for rent since the beginning of the year, and there are currently no tenants.
Ms. Tu Tran, Director of a brokerage company specializing in renting townhouses, said that similar situations occurred on some streets that were previously quite busy and rented quite well such as 3 Thang 2 Street (District 10), Tran Hung Dao Street District 1...., now everywhere you look, you can see many houses with vacant frontages and covered with lease plates. Some premises have had signs hanging since the end of 2023, and have not been able to be traded yet. Many homeowners are willing to negotiate a 15-20% discount if there is a customer to close the contract, but it is still very difficult.
According to a report by Market Research firm Savills, the vacant ratio of street-front retail space has not yet recovered to its heyday before the COVID-19 pandemic. The current average rental price of retail premises on major streets in Ho Chi Minh City is currently 10-20% lower than in 2019.
Homeowners continue to have incentives such as: extending the rental price, extending the payment schedule, reducing deposits or being more flexible during the rental period, but the situation of vacant premises has often continued in both prime and bustling locations.
Ms. Cao Thi Thanh Huong - Senior Manager, Research Department, Savills HCMC - said that the retail sector is currently experiencing profound changes, especially in consumer behavior and how to operate the retail model. The main reason comes from changes in consumers' shopping habits. The extension of social distance during the pandemic has prompted people to seek more online shopping channels and gradually get used to experiencing the convenience and cost-saving ability when shopping online.
Currently, most consumers choose to continue this habit even as the market gradually recovers. This is a long-term change in consumer behavior, causing a significant impact on the demand for traditional retail space rental.
According to Ms. Huong, townhouses often lack professional management, rental prices depend heavily on the homeowner's personal decisions, lacking consistency and stability. If the townhouse premises are not located in a truly prime location, it will be difficult to create a similar spillover effect. With the street store model, consumers must proactively find a brand.
On the contrary, at shopping malls, they easily "catch" brands - a form of "shopping through glass doors", creating natural access opportunities for potential customers even without specific needs.
"In the context of many economic challenges, retail businesses are currently forced to review, restructure their store portfolio and balance operating costs. With advantages in operations and the ability to attract customers, modern retail models, especially shopping malls, are becoming the priority choice of many brands in the strategy of optimizing business efficiency", Ms. Cao Thi Thanh Huong commented.
