The Grand Manhattan Project is being developed in District 1 of HCM City.

There will be both opportunities and challenges this year in the HCM City property market, which will see a number of new projects being introduced, experts have said.

Luxury segment: key product in 1sthalf

Insiders said the market saw a downtrend in the early partof this year.

They attributed it to the tight supervision by city authorities,which included an appraisal of the legal status of many projects.

Furthermore, the restriction on granting licences for new housing projects in 2018-20 was another cause for the stagnation.

The only saving grace have been the high-end and luxury condo segments, which accounted for 60 per cent of the supply in the market.

Of the luxury projects, those in Districts 1 and 3 are expected to see their price increase by 5-7 per cent a year due to the lack of supply.

Aqua City is an eco-urban project spread over hundreds of hectares in Bien Hoa City of the southern province of Dong Nai. Aqua City will be a complex of houses, villas, and shophouses with many amenities like trade centres, schools and entertainment and sports facilities.

The prices in the luxury segment in these areas stand at VND168-280 million per square metre.

Experts attribute the high prices again to the limited supply, saying since 2016 few condo projects has been developed in District 1.

The market began to heat up at the end of 2018 when Novaland Group launched The Grand Manhattan.

People working in the property market likened the launch to rain during the dry season.

The developer said the first two towers of the project have sold well and it would soon sell a new building called Riverview.

In addition to the heart of the city, the other areas where the property market grew strongly in the first half of this year are the eastern region comprising District 2 and District 9.

Some 33 per cent of the city’s entire supply is in this area.

New trend rises

Since the end of last year the market has been witnessing a new trend: that of developers flocking outside the city to neighbouring provinces like Dong Nai, Binh Duong va Long An.

This has not only boosted urbanisation in these provinces but also eased the pressure on the HCM City market.

Le Hoang Chau, chairman of the HMC City Real Estate Association, said: “HCM City’s neighbouring provinces have become ideal destinations for real estate developers from HCM City.

“Many provinces and cities have offered incentives to attract developers from HCM City.

“They also closely co-operate with HCM City property developers to help them resolve difficulties.”

Novaland Group too plans to launch a project in Dong Nai Province.

The project, Aqua City, will be an eco-urban project spread over hundreds of hectares in Long Hung Commune in Bien Hoa City.

NovaWorld Ho Tram Project

Aqua City will be a complex of houses, villas, and shophouses with many amenities like trade centres, schools and entertainment and sports facilities.

Another trend in the market in the first half of the year was the development of hospitality projects.

Explaining this, experts said the number of tourists coming to Viet Nam has been increasing, pushing the demand for accommodation.

Ha Van Sieu, deputy head of the Viet Nam National Administration of Tourism, said the annual growth in the number of travellers is over 20 per cent.

In just the first three months of this year, about five million foreign visitors came to Viet Nam.

The number of domestic visitors was 25 million, and more than half of them used hotels and other accommodation, he said.

The total revenues of the tourism sector during the period rose by 8.35 per cent year-on-year to VND175 trillion.

This is a positive sign for the tourism sector, which hopes to see 18 million foreigners visit this year.

Do Cam Tho, an expert in the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, said beach tourism has contributed much to the economy in recent years, accounting for over 60 per cent of the total revenues of the tourism sector.

He said 70-80 per cent of tourists holiday in places near the sea.

Seeing the potential, many developers have begun to invest in hospitality projects.

In tourist destinations like Phan Thiet and Ba Ria – Vung Tau, a number of hospitality projects are mushrooming like NovaWorld Phan Thiet and NovaWorld Ho Tram.

The two projects are near the sea and only about two hours away from HCM City.

When they open to the public, they will offer a full range of amusement and sporting options like theme park, water park and golf and bring great benefit to investors who want to earn money from a second home.