A spike in price for land lots in HCM City’s suburban districts has been occurring since the end of 2017 due to high demand.

A representative of a real estate exchange company in District 9 said the price of land lots had been rising steadily by 10 to 15 per cent since Tet (Lunar New Year), while some plots in the outskirts of HCM City had increased by 30 per cent.

Offered lots are usually bought very quickly.

One woman said that a 56-sq metre wide piece of land lot that she bought in the morning and put up for sale was immediately bought by someone else in the afternoon, netting her VND700 million (US$30,730).

In another case, one man said that he wanted to buy a land lot in Thu Duc District’s Pham Van Dong Street, which was VND3.3 billion at the end of 2017, but then decided to wait until after Tet to buy it. But it was bought by someone else for VND3.9 billion.

Lots in the western part of the city such as Binh Tan and Binh Chanh districts are also seeing massive increases in prices. Some have nearly doubled in value.

A man in Binh Tan District said: “I just bought a 120 sq metre wide land lot on Ten Lua Street for VND5.5 billion. Now someone is willing to pay VND9.5 billion for it, but I will hold on to the land because I think its value will increase in the future.”

According to Tran Thi Cam Tu, general director of Eximrs Real Estate Company, people who profited from stock investment since the end of last year are now investing in land instead.

A financial expert said that people were investing in land instead of putting savings in banks due to the low interest rates now offered by banks. "Investing in land lots is more profitable and affordable compared to property," he said.

"There is only a limited amount of empty land, but demand is always rising, so prices will increase accordingly," he added.

Tran Khanh Quang, general director of Viet An Hoa Real Estate Company, said that land lots in the eastern part of the city were rising in value, while the price of land in the southern part remained relatively unchanged.

This was due to the eastern area’s development of infrastructure, which had increased the value of the land.

Despite the price spike and expected profits, customers are urged to be cautious and avoid paying more than what a lot is actually worth. – VNS