Many buyers now prefer houses and apartments in finished projects. -- Photo dantri.com.vn

HCM CITY (Biz Hub)— Every time he thinks of the apartment that he bought four years ago, Nguyen Hoang Dat feels disappointed and regretful.

Dat of HCM City's Tan Binh District paid for an apartment that was under construction in Nha Be District, dreaming of moving in in 2012. But now, two years past the scheduled completion date, he still has to get his apartment. Many arguments later, "they are still completing it," he said.

If he could start afresh, he would choose a completed project because he is now very "tired," he said.

Dat is just one of many people who are disappointed and tired by property projects that have become overdue or are of low quality.

As a result, many buyers now prefer houses and apartments in finished projects, sparking a new trend in the property market, a trend predicted to only grow with the entry of deep-pocketed developers, who can afford to wait until construction is finished to sell.

Speaking to Viet Nam News, a spokesperson for Khang Dien House Investing and Trading Company Ltd, which has been in the market for more than 10 years, said most of her company's finished projects sold well.

She cited the examples of a 160-house project in District 9 in which over 30 per cent was sold soon after it hit the market at the beginning of this month and a project with 29 houses which sold out in just a month last year.

Other developers' projects like Green Life in Binh Chanh District, South Sai Gon Riverside, and Ehome 4 Sai Gon in neighbouring Binh Duong Provinvce have been ready for investors.

Buying a finished house or apartment comes with the obvious advantage of allowing buyers to examine the quality before buying.

Seeing the preference for ready-to-occupy housing, many companies said they would adopt a similar strategy.

The Khang Dien spokesperson said her company planned to build more houses and would sell them in the next two or three years.

Discussing the trend, the general director of La Ban Real Estate Company, Ngo Huu Truong, told Sai Gon Times newspaper that it was unavoidable if buyers' faith was to be restored, especially since the market remained in a slump.

Buyers were now very careful and did not trust what they see in advertisements, he said, adding that with completed projects, they could check the quality and other services offered before parting with their money.

Hoang Anh Tuan, general director of Tac Dat Tac Vang Company, said most people looking to buy now were doing so for their own use and so were very concerned about quality. — VNS