The real estate market is seeing some positive signs, especially in terms of demand and buyer sentiment, and the market will start to recover in the first half of next year, according to real estate portal Batdongsan.com.vn.
Speaking at an event held to release its real estate market report for the second quarter of the year in HCM City on July 6, Nguyen Quoc Anh, its deputy general director, said the market had experienced difficulties in the first half as demand and transactions had continued to fall, investment sentiment had been weak and the general liquidity had not shown any signs of recovery.
The Government had taken drastic action to remove difficulties faced by the sector such as resolving the legal issues that had plagued many property projects and lowering interest rates, but these had yet to fully impact the market.
Batdongsan.com.vn data showed that the intention to buy and sell real estate nation-wide had dropped by 33 per cent and 44 per cent year-on-year, reflecting the challenges.
A survey of nearly 1,000 brokers found that buyers were waiting for prices to decrease further or were simply afraid of putting money in the market.
Besides, difficulty in accessing home loans, high interest rates and high housing prices vis-a-vis incomes were other major barriers to liquidity.
The supply-demand mismatch in recent years meant many people with housing needs, and preferred affordable products, had been unable to buy.
But compared to the latter half of last year and the first quarter of this year, the second had showed bright signs.
After a sharp decline over the previous three quarters, the national real estate interest index had risen by 1 per cent in Q2. In HCM City, demand for apartments and houses had gradually risen.
A survey of consumer sentiment and real estate trends found 61 per cent of respondents saying they planned to buy property in 2024.
Of them, 40 per cent were interested in land, 28 per cent in apartments and 21 per cent in private houses.
Viet Nam’s economic foundation was very good, and foreign investments were still shifting to the country.
Bank deposit interest rates had dropped to 8 per cent, and lending interest rates from 15-17 per cent in Q1 to 12.5-13 per cent.
A series of infrastructure projects, including Ring Road No.3, are under construction, and the Government’s policies to remove obstacles and promote the real estate market would begin to bear fruit since there was usually a lead time of six to 12 months.
Investment in real estate would improve in 2024-26, and the market would see the participation of many large global players by then.
The recovery cycle was likely to begin in the first half of 2024. — VNS