Villa, house supply in HCM City cannot meet demand

Supply in HCM City’s new villa and townhouse segment has been too low in recent months to meet demand and prices have been rising as a result.

In May Phu Long Property Company held the second phase of sales of its Dragon Village project in District 9. The 21ha project has over 400 houses and 300 villas, all of which were sold within two hours, it said.

The US$2 billion Van Phuc City in Thu Duc District has also been in high demand.

Nguyen Huong, general director of Dai Phuc Lan, the developer, told Dau Tu (Investment Review) newspaper that nearly 300 houses have been sold so far.

Dang Phuong Hang, managing director of CBRE Vietnam, told Viet Nam News that supply is limited due to a shortage of land.

In the first quarter of this year only four projects entered the market with 635 houses and villas, one each in districts 2, 9, Binh Chanh, and Thu Duc.

Projects elsewhere have only condos and not villas and townhouses, she said.

She attributed the high demand to the Vietnamese preference for houses rather than apartments.

A report from market researcher JLL Vietnam said in the second quarter of this year new villa and townhouse supply topped 1,550 units, with the latter accounting for 73 per cent.

Two-thirds of the townhouses were priced at $350,000-550,000.

JLL said 1,483 units have been sold, and another 1,900 are expected to be added in the second half of this year, mostly in districts 9, 2 and Go Vap.

It said there is a shortage of villas and townhouses both in the primary and secondary markets due to a scarcity of land in prime locations.

Tran Duc Vinh, general director of Tran Anh Group, said last year his company built 400 villas and houses and sold them in quick time.

The market has looked up since 2015 and incomes have improved, adding up to increased demand for villas and townhouse, he said. But since not all developers can build them, demand is constantly unsated, he said.

Researchers said villa and townhouse prices have increased sharply due to the short supply.

In districts 2 and Go Vap, prices are up by 80-150 per cent this year. In districts 7, Binh Thanh and Nha Be District, they are up by 5-10 per cent. – VNS