Illustrative image. (Source: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Tenants across Vietnamare facing tough market conditions due to the heavy impact of thewidely-spreading novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), so some landlords areoffering rent relief to help ease the pressure.
According to global real estate services firmJLL, office rental rates in Ho Chi Minh City hit a decade high at the end of2019, growing 7.4 percent year on year to 29.1 USD per square metre as a resultof surging demand and a shortage of new supply.
However, aside from properties already rented out, new properties are facingdifficulties at present when demand plunged remarkably.
A retail property service provider in the cityreported that the number of visitors to local supermarkets and shopping malls have droppedby 40 - 50 percent after the outbreak was reported.
Restaurants have suffered a similar setback withguests declining 20 – 30 percent during weekdays and up to 50 percent atweekends.
Bui Nguyen Huyen Trang, Head of Market at JLLVietnam said companies may consider letting their employees work from home orother spaces amid the epidemic, so it would affect the dynamic of some sectors,leading to postponements of office relocations or expansions.
Due to the unpredictable nature of the COVID-19outbreak, it is still early to say anything about the short-term andmiddle-term impacts on the office space segment, she said.
But looking at the current situation, landlordscannot just stand by and watch. Pham Thai Binh, Director-General of Hung ThinhRetail – the investor of Moonlight Plaza, Saigon Mia (HCM City), and Vung TauMelody (Ba Ria-Vung Tau) – said his company has offered rent cuts, ranging from20 – 40 percent, to tenants depending on each case.
The move is designed to help them maintain theirbusinesses at this difficult time, Binh said./.
