On the other hand, a reality is that in Ho Chi Minh City, many projects are completed and eligible for reopening for sale, with few buyers.
These two stories seem to be different but still have one thing in common: Loan interest rates. Because submitting an application is one thing, but whether there is enough money to buy and be willing to pay bank interest or not is another issue that needs to be calculated.
Regarding loans for people in need of social housing, the Government has issued many instructions. Most recently, Decree 216 recently issued in mid-October 2025 details the preferential lending interest rate for buying and renting social housing; buying and renting houses for the People's Armed Forces; building or renovating and repairing houses at the Bank for Social Policies is officially regulated at 5.4%/year instead of 6.6%/year as before.
In addition, for loans that have signed credit contracts with the Policy Bank before October 10, 2025, credit contracts will be adjusted to apply an interest rate of 5.4%/year for actual principal balance and overdue principal balance (if any).
However, those efforts are not enough, and there needs to be a deeper, stronger participation from commercial banks. According to information from the State Bank, interest rates for loans to buy social housing have been adjusted down significantly, with the interest rate applied to social housing projects from July 2025 being 5.9% per year. This interest rate is about two hundred per cent lower than the medium and long-term lending interest rates of major commercial banks. This is of great significance for low-income families, helping to reduce the financial burden when borrowing capital to buy a house.
This is a positive policy, many experts say that this interest rate is still not attractive enough, especially compared to other countries in the region.
Notably, preferential loan packages at banks announced at low levels are all short-term interest rates, after which the interest rates will be floating. This is what home buyers are worried about.
The Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association (HoREA) has proposed that the State Bank consider building a mechanism for young people to buy a first home to borrow credit at a reasonable commercial interest rate within 10-15 years. This will truly create a "push" in social housing.
Experts say that to truly attract people, especially low-income households, the current lending interest rate needs to continue to be adjusted down further. HoREA's proposal to reduce interest rates to 3-3.5% per year will help this policy be truly effective, not only for low-income people but also help ensure the sustainability of social housing projects.
Therefore, removing interest rate barriers is the best way for people, especially freelance workers and industrial park workers, to access social housing. Avoiding the paradox of high buyer demand, social housing in many places is still difficult to sell.
