Foreign investors pumped in a total of US$77.6 million in the real estate market in January, according to statistics of the Foreign Investment Agency.

The real estate sector ranked third among 19 sectors with foreign direct investment (FDI) in January, attracting 6.2 per cent of the total registered FDI.

Su Ngoc Khuong, investment director at property services firm Savills Viet Nam, said foreign capital would promote the development of the property market in the country.

In 2017, the real estate sector attracted $3.05 billion FDI, accounting for 8.5 per cent of the country’s total registered FDI, ranking third in terms of FDI attraction after the manufacturing and processing industry and power distribution sector.

According to the General Statistics Office, 1,400 new construction firms were founded in January, up by 21 per cent, together with more than 460 new firms in real estate business, up by 47 per cent over the same period last year.

New construction firms had the highest registered capital worth VND20.6 trillion (US$903.5 million), accounting for 21 per cent of the total registered capital of new firms in January. This was followed by real estate business with VND17.5 trillion, accounting for nearly 19 per cent.

Last year, the total registered capital of new firms operating in the real estate sector was VND388 trillion, accounting for 30 per cent.

The average capital of new real estate firms last year was also highest, with VND76.7 billion for each firm. — VNS