Vinh Thien Duong Company is wrapping up preparations for its US$300 million Alma resort in Cam Ranh, comprising of 200 villas and 400 apartments meant as holiday homes.

HCM CITY (Biz Hub) — The second-home market is becoming livelier as the property market emerges from a long slump.

Dau Tu newspaper reported that Vinh Thien Duong Company is wrapping up preparations for its US$300 million Alma resort in Cam Ranh, comprising of 200 villas and 400 apartments meant as holiday homes.

Russian firm State Development is building the Cam Ranh Flowers Resort in the same town with villas, bungalows and apartments, and is scheduled to complete it in the first quarter of 2016.

In nearby Nha Trang, Hoan Cau Group, the developer of the $4 billion Diamond Bay City, on Monday unveiled its Diamond Bay Resort II. It is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter with more than 1000 apartments and almost 380 bungalows, all of four-star quality. An 18-hole golf course and a resort are already in operation.

The company's business and marketing director Tran Ngoc Nhat hoped that the first 200 apartments on offer would soon find buyers since Nha Trang is a favourite destination for both Vietnamese and foreign tourists.

Phu Quoc Island is a beehive of activity with developers like BIM Group, Sungroup, Vingroup and CEO Group investing billions of dollars in luxury resorts.

Meanwhile, central provinces like Thanh Hoa and Phu Yen are emerging as new investment destinations.

FLC expects to turn the coastal Thanh Hoa Province into a new destination for second-home buyers with an investment of VND5.5 trillion (US$250 million) in its FLC Samson Golf Links that will have a golf course, convention centre, luxury hotel, villas and townhouses.

Ian Fleming, general director of FLC Samson Golf Links, told Dau Tu newspaper that international coastal golf and resort properties have yet to be developed in the north of Viet Nam, and that was why FLC decided to do the project.

In Phu Yen, the Rose Rock Group, founded by members of the US's wealthy Rockefeller family, has tied up with Vung Ro Petroleum Company for a $2.5 billion project in Vung Ro Bay to tap the advantage of the location.

Matthew Powell, the Hanoi director of real estate services firm Savills Vietnam, said its long coastline, temperate climate and friendly people are among the factors that make Viet Nam promising for the second-home segment.

Other second-home projects are under development not only in popular places like Phan Thiet, Da Nang and Nha Trang but also in Qui Nhon and Lang Co (Hue) in the central region and Ninh Binh and Quang Ninh in the north.

The segment is no longer only for the wealthy. VinaLingving, for instance, recently launched its golf course villas, the latest offering at its 260ha Danang Beach Resort project, at a price of VND5.5 billion for a 250sq.m ($250,000) unit.

The price goes down to VND2.6 billion for a commercial front-street house in the Little Vietnam project in Quang Ninh Province.

Powell said his company has received positive feedback from buyers. — VNS

The National Assembly last November approved amendments to the Law on Housing allowing foreigners to buy commercial housing, which, when it takes effect in July, is expected to have a positive impact on the real estate market including the second-home segment.