More than a year ago, Mr. Van Thanh (30 years old, from Nam Dinh) and his wife decided to move from their rented room in the inner city to rent an apartment in Hoai Duc. Mr. Thanh's purpose was to live here for a few years to find an apartment that fits his budget.
Despite working several jobs at the same time and saving thoroughly, the couple still cannot afford to buy a house because the price keeps increasing. "The apartment I'm renting is nearly 70 square meters, the price last September was 2.1 billion VND but this year it's more than 2.9 billion VND. Meanwhile, my wife and I worked all year to save more than 150 million VND" - Mr. Thanh said.
Mr. Thanh likened his family's income and house prices to a "tortoise and hare" race. "Although I am as hard-working, diligent and patient as the "tortoise", I am still far behind in house prices," Mr. Thanh confided.
Another case is the family of Ms. Vo Thi Ha (31 years old, from Ninh Binh) who has also been searching and waiting to buy a house in Hanoi at a suitable price for the past few years. Two years ago, having saved 900 million VND, Ms. Vo Thi Ha and her husband "started" their dream of buying a house in Hanoi, but every time they almost had enough money, the house price skyrocketed to a new level.
At that time, the income of the office worker couple in Cau Giay district was about 30 million VND per month while they already had a child. Neither of their families could help, so they calculated that if they bought a house, they would have to borrow 700 million VND from the bank.
"I've saved everything to buy a house and pay interest every month. I'm afraid that if something unexpected happens in my life, I won't have any savings," said Ms. Ha.
They decided to save for a few more years, until they had saved 2/3 of the apartment's value before "putting down the money", however, due to the rapid increase in house prices, Ms. Ha and her husband are still renting.
For families like Ms. Ha and Mr. Thanh to fulfill their dream of settling down, developing the affordable housing segment is considered a fundamental, long-term stable solution.
Real estate expert, Mr. Nguyen The Diep - Vice President of Hanoi Real Estate Club shared that customers need to pay attention to several main factors.
First, define clear goals. Defining goals will also help you balance your personal finances to limit risks from interest-bearing loans and reduce the burden of debt repayment when buying a home.
Second, choose the right type. This not only brings satisfaction in daily life but also helps balance the "wallet".
In addition to the above factors, Mr. Diep said that in order to take advantage of the time of cheap money and great incentive policies, and minimize risks when buying a house, customers need to pay more attention to the reputation of the investor and the legal status of the project.
Dr. Tran Xuan Luong - Lecturer specializing in real estate, National Economics University - said that developing the affordable commercial housing segment is a fundamental solution, contributing to the balanced development of the Vietnamese real estate market at the present time. At the same time, it will help stabilize the long term, meet the housing needs of the majority of people, and limit speculation that distorts the market.
