Gia Phu of HCM City decided to buy a condominium in Singapore after attending an event in HCM City held to launch three Singapore projects. — Photo cafeland

He explained why he did so: "My daughter will study in Singapore next year, so I want to buy a condo for her. Education in Singapore is as good as in the US or Australia. It has a similar culture to Viet Nam's and is easy to access with many flights every day."

Phu is just one of many such buyers. In fact, a new investment trend has begun with Vietnamese pouring money to buy condos in neighbouring countries including Singapore and Malaysia.

Buying housing in foreign countries is not new per se in Viet Nam, especially since many people have become richer thanks to a stock market boom in previous years.

But hitherto most of the buying was done in the US, Australia and Canada. Recently the focus has shifted to the neighbourhood, especially Singapore and Malaysia.

In September, Anpha Holdings announced it would be the distributor for three housing projects in Singapore – Wallich Residence, Leedon Residence and Sims Urban Oasis.

Introductory events it held in HCM City and Ha Noi attracted many prospective buyers and the results seem to have exceeded expectations.

"Many Vietnamese are interested in the projects," Pham Thanh Mai, PR manager of Anpha Holdings, told Viet Nam News.

"So far 12 customers have made firm requests to visit the projects."

But the number of people who want to buy condos in Singapore is much higher, she said, explaining that the number asking to visit does not indicate the real demand because of the large and non-refundable deposit people have to pay.

Her company had earlier introduced a project in Malaysia and five people had bought so far, she said.

Michael Dang, chairman of Anpha Holdings, said there was a move by real estate investors from the domestic to regional markets.

"This is significant since it means Vietnamese investors are choosing to make stable long-term investments instead of speculating in the domestic market," he said.

"Most of the buyers are people whose children plan to study in Singapore or who plan to expand their business abroad," he said.

According to Le Hoang Chau, chairman of the HCM City Real Estate Association, said Singapore is chosen by many Vietnamese since it has a very good living environment including a modern healthcare system and education.

Furthermore, it is only a short flight from Viet Nam to Singapore and Malaysia with plenty of flights every day, which would help buyers easily manage their properties.

Dang, who has experience of the Singapore real estate market, said it was a lucrative market.

"Easy to sell and easy to lease and the demand keeps increasing while land is limited."

"Investors from many Middle Eastern countries and Indonesia have invested in the market for a long time and made big profits, and the time is now suitable for Vietnamese to do so," he said.

Investors should choose a country with political and economic stability to buy housing, he said.

"It is good to diversify one's investments and so people should put their money in other markets too instead of investing only in Viet Nam," he added. — VNS