HCM City (VNA) – The policy of expanding foreign ownership quotas for eligible projects to sell to foreigners is seen as an important step to help the market absorb international capital, while positioning Ho Chi Minh City as an integrated real estate hub in Southeast Asia.
The city recently announced an additional 48 projects eligible for sale to foreign individuals and organisations, bringing the total to 65. The move is regarded as significant in attracting international capital and creating additional demand in the market.
According to Nguyen Khanh Duy, Director of Residential Sales at Savills Ho Chi Minh City, the ownership cap of 30% of apartments in a building or 250 landed houses in a ward will help the market absorb foreign capital without causing excessive price fluctuations. This is an important boost to liquidity.
Savills Vietnam reports that HCM City has faced a housing supply shortage for the past five years. The city aims to develop 235,000 new units from 2021 to 2025, but has so far achieved only about 24% of that target, falling short by approximately 179,000 units. In the first six months of 2025, primary supply reached 6,800 units, with sales totalling 3,800 units. For the 2025–2027 period, future supply is projected at around 39,000 apartments - still relatively modest compared to actual demand.
In the landed property segment, the situation is even more challenging. In the first half, the primary supply was only 700 units, with just 170 transactions recorded. From now until 2027, the city is expected to add only around 3,600 new landed homes, primarily located in suburban areas.
However, according to Savills Vietnam, in the long term, positive changes and improvements, from the implementation of new laws and policies to the streamlining of legal approval procedures, are expected to create growth prospects for the residential real estate market in HCM City.
Foreign buyers typically buy mid- to high-end apartments of moderate size, located in central areas or near metro lines, from international developers. The typical transaction value ranges from 500,000 USD to 1 million USD per unit, with most investors coming from Singapore, Hong Kong (China), the Republic of Korea, Taiwan (China), and the overseas Vietnamese community.
A controlled opening policy will support primary market prices and raise service standards. Developers with projects on the list approved for foreign sales will have a significant advantage in accessing international distribution channels, Duy noted.
Alongside foreign capital inflows, Savills has also observed a strong shift of investors from the North towards HCM City. According to Duy, three factors are driving this trend: price levels in HCM City remain lower than in Hanoi; major infrastructure projects like Ring Road No. 3 and Long Thanh Airport are creating strong expectations; and the new supply in HCM City and surrounding areas is more diverse.
The Southern market remains an appealing choice for northern investors.
In the long term, greater transparency in project listings, administrative reform, and synchronised infrastructure investment will help position the city as a real estate hub in Southeast Asia. The city has the opportunity not only to attract FDI into real estate, but also to expand into finance, asset management, and associated services./.
VNA
