In Ha Noi, 1,200 successful transactions were completed in February, down by 20 per cent over the previous month, but double the figure seen during the same month last year. — VNS Photo Nguyen Manh Ha

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Real-estate companies commenced recruitment from the beginning of this year to cope with the anticipated strong sales of property, along with expectations of a recovery in the market.

Many firms announced plans to recruit up to thousands of employees within the first quarter of this year to beef up human resources to boost sales and the distribution of property products.

Nguyen Khai Hoan, chairman of Khai Hoan Land Company, said that in the context of the promising abundant supply of property products, firms with strong and high-quality human resources would gain an advantage.

The Khai Hoan Land Company plans to raise the number of employees to 1,500 this year from the current 600. On average, the company hired dozens of new brokers per week in March.

STDA Real Estate Project Supermarket System has also accelerated recruitment to meet the goal of selling 10,000 property products this year, more than double the sales reported last year. The company aims to hire 1,500 brokers this year, adding to its current team of nearly 2,000.

The high rate of successful real-estate transactions during the first two months of this year had consolidated confidence of property firms, Nguyen Tho Tuyen, SDTA's general director said, adding that the market required professional sales agents.

Another property giant, FLC Group, also reported its intention of recruiting 2,000 employees in 2015 for developing and operating its projects.

Other companies, such as Thanh Yen, Hung Thinh Corporation and Maxland also plan to hire thousands in new staff this year.

Tran Duc Dien, CEO of Maxland, said the property market had started recovering, following which supply and revenue targets were raised, forcing property agents to improve their sales staff.

The quality of property salespersons also needed to be enhanced as a large number of buyers were expected to be foreigners, following the regulation of allowing foreigners to buy housing in the country, according to the director of a real-estate firm.

The Chairman of the HCM City Real Estate Association, Le Hoang Chau, said that with the rising number of property trading floors and brokers, competition in the sector would be harsh.

However, the increased competition would also help the property market realize its real value, Chau added.

Roaring success

According to the Viet Nam Real Estate Association's report, more than 2,300 successful real estate transactions were completed in Ha Noi and HCM City in February, which was more than twice the amount reported during the same period last year.

In Ha Noi, 1,200 successful transactions were completed in February, down by 20 per cent over the previous month, but double the figure seen during the same month last year.

Also, the number of successful transactions in the southern city were three times higher than the same period last year.

Successful transactions were mainly for projects with good construction progress, reasonable prices and advantageous positions.

The association's report also showed that housing prices did not see huge fluctuations after the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday.

Real-estate inventories were pegged at VND73.15 trillion (US$3.46 billion) at the end of February, down by nearly VND235 billion ($11.12 million) from the end of January, the report showed. — VNS