The change in tourism trends caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has made coastal real estate near HCM City attractive to tourism property developers.

COVID-19 is limiting the use of public transport such as planes, buses and trains and increasing the use of personal vehicles.

Developers are therefore looking at coastal tourism markets that are easily accessible by private vehicle within two to four hours from the city, experts said.

Binh Thuan Province's Phan Thiet City seems set for a boom thanks to imminent transport upgrades too, they said.

Situated 2.5 hours from HCM City by road, Phan Thiet’s holiday home products are attractive to affluent people in HCM City and Ha Noi, who show great interest in them since they offer a combination of lifestyle and long-term investment, experts said.

Long Thanh International Airport’s first phase is expected to be ready by 2025 with a capacity of 25 million passengers annually. Situated 130 km from Binh Thuan, it is expected to attract many foreign tourists, a major advantage for the province since foreigners tend to spend more than locals.

Phan Thiet resorts are quite cheap now since infrastructure is still being built.

Dr Tran Nguyen Minh Hai of the HCM City Banking University said demand for property ownership one or two hours from HCM City by personal vehicle would explode after the COVID epidemic is completely controlled.

Duong Thuy Dung, senior director at property consultancy CBRE Vietnam’s, said coastal real estate markets near HCM City such as La Gi and Mui Ne in Binh Thuan Province and Ho Tram in Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province would lead the southern real estate market in the next five years since they have advantages such as having a private space. — VNS