A New Urban Zone in the My Dinh area in the capital city. — VNS Photo Truong Vi

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Many property investors have converted apartments for sale to apartments for lease to cut the selling price.

In the past two years, Vingroup gave up on selling apartments in many projects due to the downturn of the local property market.

A group representative said the move aimed to protect the interests of customers who had already bought apartments, adding that the group had a long-term leasing strategy.

The investor of a luxury apartment project in Le Van Luong also planned to lease the apartments instead of selling them.

At the Elegant Tay Ho project, which has 400 apartments for sale, the investor considered leasing 60 rather than selling them.

Do Quang Lam, deputy general director of Tan Hoang Minh Group, said that whether such conversions were successful depended on the location of the project as well as the financial ability of the investor.

CBRE Viet Nam Co Ltd said demand for serviced apartments was still stable in terms of number of inquiries, but tenants' budgets had declined by approximately 10 per cent quarter on quarter.

Serviced apartments on the west side of the capital city continued to be in high demand, especially for units in the US$1,000-$2,000 range, due to the emergence of the office hub along Pham Hung Corridor and growing Japanese and Korean communities in the surrounding area.

The upcoming Samsung factory in northern Thai Nguyen Province is also expected to generate increased demand for serviced apartments in Ha Noi and on the edge of the city.

Rents are expected to become more competitive due to companies' tightened budgets. In terms of location, the Tay Ho area will face pressures to reduce rents as more supply comes on line, particularly when Lotte Center Hanoi opens in the second quarter of 2014.

Projects in the central business districts (CBD) still face competition from new projects on the western side of the city.

Unsold condominiums or parts of hotels are being increasingly converted into serviced apartments and other serviced apartment projects are considering expansion possibilities, especially in the Tay Ho area. — VNS