Apartment prices continue to linger at high levels in the context of increased input costs, but the secondary market has begun to show signs of adjustment, including the phenomenon of selling lower than the original price. Although not yet widespread, this trend is forecast to appear more frequently in the coming time, reflecting changes in investor behavior as the market enters the selection phase.
According to Mr. Le Dinh Chung, General Director of SGO Homes, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Real Estate Market Research and Evaluation Council, in the primary market, housing prices are still maintained at a high level and tend to increase slightly due to increased input costs. This causes apartment prices to continue to be pushed up, especially in large cities.
Conversely, the secondary market is showing different movements. According to Mr. Chung, the market is not falling into a "freeze" state but has entered a stage of selective disbursement. Liquidity is no longer simply dependent on high or low prices, but is increasingly associated with the actual usable value and exploitation capacity of products. The secondary price level currently tends to adjust compared to the peak recorded in September-October 2025, while trading activities have become more cautious.
In the apartment segment, loss-cutting transactions have begun to appear, but are not yet common. The reason is that financial pressure at the present time is not too great, and market expectations in the medium and long term are still maintained. Liquidity is therefore still mainly concentrated in large cities – where real housing and rental demand are high.
Analyzing more deeply about this phenomenon, Ms. Pham Thi Mien, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Real Estate Market Research and Evaluation Institute, said that the loss-cutting sale mainly stems from a part of investors participating in the market during the hot growth period, using large financial leverage, especially loans with principal debt grace periods.
When entering the debt repayment period, in the context of rising interest rates, increased financial pressure forces them to advertise for sale to restructure cash flow. Besides, there are many cases where investors are caught up in the FOMO psychology, buying at a price difference during the market bustling period, now forced to sell when the "surfing" expectation is not achieved. While the supply offered for sale increases, buyers tend to observe and be more cautious, causing liquidity in the secondary market to slow down.
Ms. Mien predicts that this phenomenon will not spread throughout the market, but it is difficult to avoid appearing more frequently in some groups of investors and certain segments. In particular, pressure from financial leverage and the adjustment cycle of interest rates is becoming an important factor dominating sales decisions.
This is not a common trend of the market but mainly occurs locally in areas that have recorded hot growth, or in groups of investors using high financial leverage with short-term "surfing" expectations, taking advantage of interest rate support policies from investors.
In the coming time, when loans enter the stage of having to pay both principal and interest, financial pressure may increase, causing the phenomenon of cut-loss to appear more often, especially in the group of investors borrowing large capital. At the same time, as the supply of apartments increases, price competition pressure will be clearer, especially for products formed in the future. Investors holding this type will have to bear prolonged loan interest costs and not have exploitation cash flow, thereby increasing the possibility of having to sell below expectations.
