Illustrative photo (Source: VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – The domestic property market is forecast to face opposite ends in late 2016 with a lack of mid-tier housing and an abundant high-end segment.
The Housing and Real Estate Market Management Department explained that a majority of local customers have demands for affordable apartments with medium or small areas.
Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have the biggest housing supplies, mostly luxury and mid-end projects. However, transactions have remained flat recently in the two major cities.
Against this backdrop, the Ministry of Construction has asked the two localities to reassess housing demands before giving the nod to housing development projects to ensure a balance in supply-and-demand and to stabilise the market.
Housing prices in the first half of this year experienced less changes than in 2015. Prices of apartments of a number of completed or soon-to-be-operational projects in downtown Hanoi rose by 3-5 percent against the previous year.
Also in the capital city, projects with good locations, modern design and suitable surrounds or those in the pipeline hold more advantage than adjacent houses and villas.
In Ho Chi Minh city, prices of the affordable segment in the suburbs remained stable while those of the high-end segment expanded by up to 15 percent compared with the same period in 2014.
The Prime Minister has recently signed a decision allowing low-income earners who want to buy houses this year to access loans at the Vietnam Bank for Social Polices with an annual interest rate of just 4.8 percent, even lower than the rate offered in the 30 trillion VND package.
In another effort to ensure the supply-demand balance, the Construction Ministry has asked localities to promptly draw up housing development plans in line with the Housing Law, which will serve as a basis for licensing housing projects.
Investors have also called on localities to shorten the duration of dossier ratification in order to make it easier for their operation.-VNA
