Foreigners are required to buy or sell houses in Viet Nam via local banks. — Photo vneconomy.vn

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Foreigners buying or selling houses in Viet Nam are required to carry out the transactions through banks in Viet Nam and not in cash, the central bank has decreed.

They can get mortgages if they meet banks' requirements, the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) said further in a document it has issued to guide the buying and selling of houses by foreign individuals and organisations.

The tenor of the loans cannot exceed the time they live and work in Viet Nam, while for organisations and other legal entities, it will not exceed their licence period.

Amendments to the Housing Law that took effect on July 1 permit foreigners and overseas Vietnamese to buy housing if they have a visa to enter the country.

They can buy, lease out, gift, and inherit property.

There are a few restrictions, one of which is that combined foreign ownership should not exceed 30 percent of an apartment project. — VNS