Ten real estate projects in the southern province of Dong Nai near HCM City were opened to potential customers last week.

The introduction was part of a joint effort by property trading floors and the provincial natural resources and environment department.

The projects include the 4.7 ha Nhat Tuong Residential Project, the 6.9 ha Thong Nhat Market Street, 1.5 ha Trang Bom Residential Area, the 36 ha Tam An Residential Area, and the 1.4 ha Long Thanh Plaza complex which will soon be offered for purchase this quarter.

According to the real estate research and consulting firm VietRees, Dong Nai province, one of the localities in the Southern Key Economic Zone, has a large land acreage with population density.

With its strong economic development, attracting a large portion of the country’s foreign direct investment, the province receives flows of migrants who will need housing.

The province’s retail turnover grew in 2008 at more than 35 percent compared to its GDP growth of 15.5 percent. It has planned various trading centres, markets and convenience store chains.

To date 27 industrial parks has existed, with a combined area of 8,216ha. Another 18 are planned on a total of 7,826ha.

In 2007 and 2008, Dong Nai attracted from both domestic and foreign investors total registered investment capital of 3.5 billion USD in real estate projects, with foreign sources representing 64 percent.

“Under the housing development strategy by the end of 2010, the province will have built 7.23 million square metres,” saif VietRees General Director Vu Quoc Thai.

Its provincial city, Bien Hoa, has only a few small office buildings, he said, adding that commercial banks had shown interest in acquiring land to build their branches. There is only one international four-star hotel in Bien Hoa.

The apartment sector is still at its initial development stage, and in three years, most of those on offer will be targeted for resettlement or low-and average income earners.

Tin Nghia, HUD, Sonadezi and D2D companies are considered prestigious developers in the province, according to Viet Rees’s Dong Nai real estate report for 2010-11./.