Abundant supply but buyers are still struggling
Considering buying a house, Hoang Mai Anh (33 years old, single), even though she already has a fortune, is not in a hurry to spend money.
For Mai Anh, the question is not only whether she has enough money to pay in advance, but also the loan she has to bear afterwards.
I added my savings and borrowed more from my family about 700 million VND, intending to find a 2-bedroom apartment in the West of Hanoi. But if I borrow from the bank, I must have at least 1-1.3 billion VND, equivalent to 30% of the initial capital, to be able to buy a suitable apartment, not to mention furniture costs, principal and monthly interest payments" - Mai Anh shared.
According to Mai Anh, her income from two jobs is currently about 50-60 million VND per month. However, if she spends almost all of her accumulated capital on the house and continues to borrow a large amount, financial pressure will be very high.
I still want to buy a house to settle down, but if I spend money now, almost all the savings will run out. After that, every month I have to spend a large amount to pay the bank, so I am still hesitant" - Mai Anh said.
In the secondary market, Mr. Pham Hoang wants to sell an apartment in Xa La urban area, Ha Dong.
About 4 months ago, he advertised for sale a 2-bedroom apartment with full furniture for 4.9 billion VND. However, due to slow transactions, he reduced the price to 4.65 billion VND and reduced some accompanying electronic devices.
Recently, there have also been a few young families asking to buy, but they offered lower prices. I still don't agree" - Mr. Hoang shared.
He said that selling the house stemmed from the need to move to a larger apartment as the family was about to have more members, not due to financial pressure.
If I sell too low, I won't have enough money to move to another 3-bedroom apartment in the same area" - Mr. Hoang said.
Mr. Hoang's case does not fall into the inventory of apartments in projects statistically analyzed by the Ministry of Construction, but reflects another cross-section in the secondary market: Sellers have a need to sell, buyers have a need to buy, but the price accepted by both parties has not yet met.
More than 12,800 unsold apartments
This paradox is even more noteworthy when the amount of unsold real estate in projects is increasing.
According to a report on housing and the real estate market in Q2/2026 by the Ministry of Construction, data from 25/34 localities shows that inventory at projects is about 39,284 products.
In which, apartment buildings alone have 12,823 unsold units, an increase of 22.2% compared to the first quarter. Detached houses have 15,313 unsold units, an increase of 46.4%, and land plots are about 11,148 plots.
Supply also increased. In the second quarter, there were 131 projects with about 50,073 units eligible for sale of houses formed in the future, including 33,832 apartments.
However, transactions decreased. The whole country recorded about 100,005 successful real estate transactions in the second quarter, only equal to 71.5% of the previous quarter. Apartment and detached house transactions alone reached 26,567 transactions, equal to 86.1% in the first quarter and 77.1% in the same period last year.
The Ministry of Construction also noted that capital costs continue to affect the market's absorption capacity. The general interest rate for real estate loans is about 12-14%/year. While many loans after preferential periods have switched to floating interest rates of about 13-15%/year, even 15-16%/year at some banks.
This development partly explains the cautious psychology of people like Mai Anh. Having a need to buy and having accumulated money, but a large loan for a long time made the decision to spend money no longer simple.
Inventory but at what price?
The figure of more than 12,800 unsold units does not necessarily mean that the market is having a surplus of houses suitable for the needs of real homebuyers.
The Ministry of Construction's report has not yet announced the price structure of unsold apartments, so it is not possible to determine which segments the unsold apartments are concentrated in, as well as how many units are within the price range that buyers like Mai Anh can access.
Meanwhile, Mr. Pham Hoang's story also shows a different gap. Sellers want to keep a price sufficient to be able to exchange for a larger house, while buyers try to pay down to suit their financial capacity.
When the two price levels have not met, transactions are difficult to take place even though both sides have demand.
In the report, the Ministry of Construction assessed that market liquidity in the second quarter continued to decrease in the context of improved supply, while house prices and cost of capital still affected people's access to housing.
Just looking at the number of unsold apartments is not enough to conclude that the market has many houses suitable for real buyers to live in. What is more concerning is how much the price of 12,823 unsold apartments is, and how much of that is really suitable for the affordability of people with real housing needs.
