After nearly ten years of saving, Nguyen Minh Thu (Ly Nhan, Ha Nam) and her husband have saved more than 1 billion VND to buy a house in Hanoi. After borrowing more from both sides of her family, Thu has about 2 billion VND and plans to buy a small house in an alley to live in temporarily.
She hopes that in the future, when her finances are better, she will move to a bigger house. However, she was surprised that 2 billion VND is only enough to buy a "super small" house, about 10 square meters.
"With a budget of 2 billion VND, brokers advise that if you want to find a house in the inner city districts, there are only houses with an area of about 10 square meters with a red book. Or houses in alleys with larger areas but the disadvantage is that they do not have a book, so you have to buy and sell them in the form of a notarized document.
A typical example is the house in the alley in Le Thanh Nghi (Hai Ba Trung district, Hanoi) with an area of only 7 square meters but is being sold for more than 2.1 billion VND, equivalent to 300 million VND/square meter. The house has 4 floors and 3 bedrooms connected by stairs, not separated.
The house is designed with a kitchen on the first floor and a bathroom on the fourth floor. The stairs are steep enough for only one person of normal weight, not too fat, to climb. Although the area is small, this house has a red book and is located just a few steps from the street.
There is another house in Dong Da district with an area of 7 square meters but the selling price is lower, about 1.8 billion VND. This house is located in a deep alley, about 200m of road to the house, only one motorbike can go. However, the broker said that this house already has a red book and as long as the customer confirms, the name can be transferred immediately" - Ms. Thu shared.
According to Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Ky - a real estate broker in Hanoi, recently, the number of customers interested in houses in small alleys in Hanoi has increased quite a lot. Especially houses in alleys cost about 3-4 billion VND, with full legal documents. This is a price suitable for the ability to pay of many people, including investors and those with real housing needs.
However, according to Mr. Ky, recently, many investors and brokers have grasped the demand and market psychology, so they have pushed the price of houses in the alley very high. There are houses for sale at unrealistic prices, and after 2-3 months, there are still no customers because of the high price.
"For houses in deep alleys, narrow streets, and small areas under 10 square meters, sometimes customers send me information asking me to sell them. However, the prices of these houses are not low. Normally, super small houses under 10 square meters are difficult to sell, especially those without red books" - Mr. Ky shared.
Mr. Nguyen The Diep - Vice President of Hanoi Real Estate Club - commented that previously, houses in deep alleys were often compared to the apartment segment by people with real housing needs. However, in recent times, the continuous increase in apartment prices in both the primary and secondary markets has prompted a group of customers to switch to buying real estate.
"Houses in alleys often have some inconveniences such as narrow roads, difficult movement and limited area. Although they know that they will encounter difficulties in emergency situations such as fire fighting, emergency or delivery, many people still accept it because the value of real estate is increasing and the demand for living space in the central area is still very high," said Mr. Diep.
