According to the Report on Housing and Real Estate Market Q1/2026 of the Ministry of Construction, apartment prices in major cities remain high, especially in the mid- and high-end segments. Primary apartment prices increased due to high input costs with an average of about 128 million VND/m2 in Hanoi and about 112 million VND/m2 in Ho Chi Minh City.
Notably, in the high-end segment, the selling price is still at a very high level but the trading volume is not active. This shows that the gap between the offering price and the market's absorption capacity is increasingly widening, creating adjustment pressure in the coming time.
Ms. Hoang Thu Hang - Deputy Director of the Housing and Real Estate Market Management Department (Ministry of Construction) said that in the first quarter of 2026, the market has about more than 40,000 apartments eligible for business. However, the affordable housing segment, social housing only accounts for about more than 7,000 units, not meeting the actual needs of the majority of people.
The Ministry of Construction is studying to supplement the "appropriate price commercial housing" development mechanism into the revised Housing Law to complete the legal corridor for the housing segment for people with average incomes.
Commenting on this issue, Dr. Nguyen Van Dinh - Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Real Estate Association, Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Realtors (VARS) - said that affordable commercial housing can become an intermediary pillar, filling the gap between social housing and high-end commercial housing. This is a structural solution to handle the supply-demand mismatch, expanding housing access opportunities for middle and upper-income groups in urban areas.
However, it is necessary to carefully study, synchronously design and concretize incentive mechanisms on land, finance, implementation and supervision to ensure feasibility and attractiveness to investors.
Mr. Tran Van Hoang - Member of the Vietnam Real Estate Market Evaluation Research Council - proposed that it is necessary to build a ceiling price frame for housing prices suitable for urban areas, directly linked to the actual affordability of people, and at the same time publicize the price calculation method and price formation components.
If it is not clarified, it is very easy to have a situation of "labeling appropriate prices" regarding policies, but real buyers still cannot access them, distorting the goal of market regulation.
From the perspective of planning and development space, Mr. Le Dinh Chung - General Director of SGO Homes - said that it is necessary to position the development of affordable commercial housing according to a reasonable radius compared to the urban center, associated with appropriate land tax policies.
The central area prioritizes high-end products and highlight projects; affordable housing is arranged in the expanded belt, population expansion areas, near new traffic axes (such as outside Ring Road 3.5, around Ring Road 4 in Hanoi). These areas need to ensure basic infrastructure and amenities to attract real residents. Development land funds should be arranged separately, centralized, not interspersed with ordinary commercial projects.
In the 1/2000 plan, in addition to 20% of the land fund for social housing, about 30% can be added for affordable commercial housing, piloted first in large cities and then replicated" - Mr. Le Dinh Chung assessed.
