The supply of apartments in Ho Chi Minh City has decreased significantly in recent times. In the first quarter of 2025, according to a report from Savills Vietnam, the whole city only had about 800 new apartments for sale, a decrease of 70% compared to the fourth quarter of 2024 due to scarcity of land funds, high investment costs and many legal problems.
However, after a series of landmark support policies were issued, many real estate projects in Ho Chi Minh City continue to have their problems resolved and the market is expected to have many changes.
In particular, Resolution No. 170/2024/QH15 of the National Assembly on specific mechanisms and policies to remove difficulties and legal obstacles for real estate and land projects in the conclusions of inspections, examinations and judgments in Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang and Khanh Hoa, along with Decree 76/2025/ND-CP, has created a strong driving force to unblock stalled projects.
Novaland Group has sent out signals that many projects of this enterprise in Ho Chi Minh City will be unblocked in the coming time, many old projects are about to be restarted after having their difficulties resolved. It is expected that in the near future, another Novaland project in Thu Duc City will have an official decision on additional land use fees. This project is expected to be implemented in the construction and handover of houses from the first quarter of 2026.
Or recently, according to the announcement of the conclusion of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee at two meetings on May 17 and May 22, 2025, with the participation of departments, branches, sectors and the People's Committee of District 7, the city has agreed to direct the thorough removal of difficulties and obstacles for the two projects of Sunshine Group, Sunshine Sky City and Noble Crystal Riverside, and will be expected to restart from the second quarter of 2025.
Not only commercial housing projects, Ho Chi Minh City also resolutely urges social housing projects. For example, recently, the City People's Committee has issued a document approving the adjustment of the implementation progress of the Phu Tho DMC social housing project (also known as the Ly Thuong Kiet social housing project) in District 10 invested by Duc Manh Joint Stock Company.
According to experts, actively removing legal obstacles for projects has helped real estate businesses "revive" when they can restart projects after a long deadlock. However, a particular issue of concern is when a series of projects are unblocked and restarted, can new supply reduce housing prices?
Dr. Nguyen Duy Phuong, Investment and Strategy Director of DG Capital, commented that the current housing price level accurately reflects the situation of supply not keeping up with demand. While real housing demand is still high, supply is congested because projects are slow to be resolved legally.
This expert believes that the efforts to remove obstacles in the past are remarkable, but compared to the long period of stagnation, the impact of solutions policies is not strong enough to cool down the market. This can be seen that the amount of high-end housing products still accounts for 76% of new supply. Even among the projects that have been removed, the high-end segment accounts for the majority. Meanwhile, segments suitable for middle-income people are hardly developed.
Not only that, the projects that have been cleared of obstacles have mostly been "suspended" for many years, so more time is needed to complete procedures, build infrastructure and bring products to the market. Not to mention, housing prices are also affected by many other factors such as financial costs, construction material prices, interest and investor's profit expectations.
For projects that last over 5 years, they will have to bear huge financial costs, significantly increasing capital prices. Therefore, in the short term, real estate prices will continue to increase due to cost pressure. To develop the market sustainably in the long term, the authorities will need to take appropriate measures to adjust and manage housing prices, said Dr. Phuong.
