The number of residences for sale in Ho Chi Minh City in 2013 stood at 6,114 units, surging 83.5 percent from 2012, a survey on the southern hub’s property market released on January 7 showed.

The survey was conducted by CBRE Vietnam, an affiliate of US-based real estate service and consulting firm CBRE Group.

In the fourth quarter alone, there were 2,702 residential units for sale, surging 70.5 percent quarter on quarter and 203.6 percent year on year.

The increase indicates that investors have gained their confidence in the market recovery, yet it will also mount up the unsold inventory (17,214 units at present) as supply has surpassed demand, the survey read.

Meanwhile, the amount of transactions in the primary market rose 40.4 percent from Q3 to over 2,000 units, and up to 49 percent of successful deals were of the affordable segment.

The economic improvement, attractive sale programmes and reasonable prices are reported to have fuelled the growth.

Property prices in Q4 almost stayed still, ranging from 630 to 2,800 USD per square metre. Notably, prices of the affordable segment declined to 630 USD per square metre, down 1.4 percent from the previous quarter.

Duong Thuy Dung, Associate Director of the Research and Consulting Department of CBRE Vietnam, said this was the first time the affordable segment witnessed a considerable decrease since several residential projects benefited from the Government’s 30 trillion VND (1.4 billion USD) aid package.

Additionally, some investors wanted to have quick consumption at lower prices rather than poor consumption at high prices, she added.-VNA