Apartment buildings for low-income earners in Dang Xa Urban Area, Gia Lam District, Ha Noi. — VNA Photo Tuan Anh

HCM City Real Estate Association has proposed the State Bank of Viet Nam should raise a stimulus package similar to its previous VND30 trillion (US$1.3 billion) preferential home loan package.

The package should aim to provide preferential loans for the purchase of affordable apartments, with prices of around VND1 billion per unit.

Since the VND30 trillion housing stimulus package ended in 2016, no similar packages were released, while demand remained high, the association said.

The association said a sum of VND1 trillion out of VND2 trillion, allocated to the Viet Nam Bank for Social Policies to support social housing projects, should be transferred to four credit institutions - Vietcombank, Vietinbank, Agribank and BIDV - to provide preferential loans for social housing purchases.

In addition, the State budget should spend some VND1-2 trillion annually in the 2018-20 period to provide loans for affordable home purchases at the preferential interest rate of 4.8 per cent per year.

The association also proposed mechanisms to be put in place to ensure the preferential lending package is used for the right purposes.

Further, preferential credits should also be provided to social housing developers to lower housing prices.

The VND30 trillion housing stimulus package was introduced in 2013 when the real estate market faced high inventories and bad debts after the 2008-09 freeze.

Some 70 per cent of the package was provided to home buyers at preferential interest rates. The package helped more than 56,000 low-income earners to own homes. — VNS