Dang Trung and his wife have been looking unsuccessfully for the last four months for a two-bedroom unit priced at under VND3 billion.
The cheapest one they found, measuring 60 sq.m and in the southern part of the city, cost VND3.3 billion.
Nam’s family has been on a similar quest since July. They have looked at 10 projects situated more than 10 kilometers from downtown but could not find an apartment for less than VND3 billion.
Even a one-bedroom costs VND3.4 billion in Thu Duc City, he said.
“It is so difficult to buy a house nowadays. Prices are mostly high, while affordable projects are either located poorly or have shady legal status.”
Apartment buildings in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by VnExpress/Quynh Tran |
Since 2018, with prices in HCMC rising relentlessly, apartments priced under VND1 billion have been disappearing.
The same began to happen to VND2-billion apartments in 2020.
Now it is the turn of units priced below VND3 billion.
An apartment project in Binh Tan District sold a two-bedroom unit at around VND3 billion in early April, but has now raised the price to VND3.5 billion.
In the eastern part of the city, virtually no apartment project lists at below VND3 billion.
A recent report by property consultancy DKRA Group said the minimum price on the primary market (where developers sell directly to buyers) is VND55 million per square meter, which means a 60-square-meter apartments costs VND3.3 billion.
Data from consultancy One Housing shows that in the third quarter of this year the average price of apartments was around VND80 million per square meter since 90% of new supply was in the high end.
Cushman & Wakefield, another consultancy, also said that apartments priced at less than VND60 million per square meter (or VND3.6 billion for a two-bedroom unit) might soon go extinct in HCMC.
This creates a major gap since half of all prospective buyers are only able to pay a maximum of VND2 billion, a recent survey of 3,100 online readers by VnExpress found.
Data from property consultancy Savills shows that the VND3-billion segment now accounts for only 15% of supply and will not exceed 5% in three years’ time. Soon it might disappear, the company said.
David Jackson, CEO of consultancy Avison Young Vietnam, said VND50 million per square meter is now considered the floor for mid-range apartments.
Rising land development costs and changes in regulations such as increased land fees and acquisition costs, are pushing prices upward, he said.
With construction costs continuing to rise, developers are forced to balance cost and profit, making affordable housing increasingly scarce, he added.
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