Luxury villa market remains lacklustre in Hanoi

The villa and townhouse market in Hanoi has stagnated over the last two months, industry insiders said this week.
The villa and townhouse market in Hanoi has stagnated over the last two months, industry insiders said this week.

"At the moment, the number of transactions on villas and townhouses is down by 20 percent compared to two months ago. Also, the number of investors looking for new property has declined by 50 percent," said Le Xuan Truong, managing director of the website www.batdongsan.com.vn.

Meanwhile, Ngo The Vinh, the director of Vinh Gia Construction Investment JSC, said his company had yet to complete a single residential agreement in the last month.

Pham Thanh Hung, deputy director of the Century Group, said prices of villas, particularly in the west of the city, had remained unchanged in recent weeks.

Retail website www.batdongsan.com.vn said that accommodation in Ciputra and My Dinh now costs in the region of 90 million VND (4,700 USD) to 140 million VND (7,300 USD) per square metre.

In more modest regions – such as Phap Van, Linh Dam, Van Khe and Van Phu – accommodation is going for between 40 million VND (2,100 USD) to 60 million VND (3,100 USD) per square metre.

"Prices climbed in May. Now, it's time for the market to re-stabilise so that it is unchanged or slightly decreased," Truong said.

"Sellers don't want to sell and buyers do not want to buy so the market is gloomy," Truong said.

Nevertheless, traders still believe it is an investors' market.

"The market is now in a bad situation. It cannot get worse. Buyers and sellers will not wait. I think they will soon pour money into real estate when they get a chance," Truong said.

According to a report by UK-based Savills, in the medium-term, 59 new villa and townhouse projects will launch in Hanoi . Most of them will be in Hoang Mai, Lang Hoa Lac, Ha Dong, Long Bien and Tu Liem districts. It is estimated that 55 percent of these will be in Hoang Mai district and Lang Hoa Lac area.

Savills said there were almost 8,200 villas and 11,400 townhouses in the capital. Ha Dong is the most attractive area for investors, with about 3,400 villas and 5,000 townhouses under construction./.

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