The Hanoi real estate market will be less active during the last quarter of the year, according to real estate experts.
Chairman of the Hanoi Real Estate Club Nguyen Huu Cuong said that while the real estate market might warm up slightly, many opportunities for profit were unlikely.
Cuong attributed the slow sales in part to Decree 71/2001/ND-CP on implementing the Law on Residential Housing of Vietnam, which came into effect in early August.
The decree stipulates that no more than 20 percent of apartments in housing construction projects can be sold before construction begins at a special rate to investors in the project.
As a result, investors had shied away from apartment construction projects, or decided to delay their investments until early next year, said Cuong.
Supply of apartments on the market has also reduced. A survey on the market during the third quarter of this year, conducted by CBRE this month, found the number of apartments on sale had fallen by almost 60 percent over the previous months.
The decrease is attributed to the rescheduling of sales plans for the last quarter this year. Many major investors are delaying sales until the release of the Government's plan for Hanoi's development. The plan is set to be tabled by the end of this year. It is expected that from now to the end of this year, 3,000 apartments will go on sale, bringing the total on the market throughout the year to 16,000.
Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Tran Nam said housing with prices aimed at middle-income earners offered the greatest potential for investment this year./.
