The US – China trade war would generate more opportunities than challenges for Viet Nam’s real estate market, experts said at the Viet Nam Real Estate Summit (VRES) in Ha Noi on Wednesday.

At the annual event organised by Viet Nam’s largest property portal batdongsan.com.vn, economist Can Van Luc said the trade war would trigger a shift in production and Viet Nam was among leading destinations.

Luc cited findings of the American Chamber of Commerce that said one third of US companies in China had moved or planned to move parts of their production plants to other countries.

This would increase demand for industrial land as well as housing for workers and other technical infrastructure, he said.

Investors were adjusting their portfolios over worries about risks that might arise from the trade tensions. Luc said, adding they might consider increasing investment in real estate companies, property projects and the retail segment in Viet Nam through mergers and acquisition deals.

Luc noted that Viet Nam was the only emerging economy which did not see a decline in foreign indirect investment.

According to Nguyen Quoc Anh, deputy general director of batdongsan.com.vn, the property market in the northern region, especially in neighbouring provinces of Ha Noi where there are a number of industrial zones such as Vinh Phuc, Bac Ninh, Bac Giang and Ha Nam, would be robust.

Experts at the conference were upbeat about the development of the real estate market in the next two years.

Quoc Anh predicted the property market would continue its stable development in 2019, fuelled by macro-economic stability.

Despite land price fever in early months of this year in some localities, which are expected to be developed into special administrative economic zones, the market moved back to stability, he said. The mid-end apartment segment would continue to lead the market, he added.

Anh said technology would be a major development trend in the property market in coming years as smart homes become more popular and investors increase the use of advanced technologies in developing and marketing their projects.

“I remain positive about the property market in 2019-20,” Duong Thuy Dung, director of real estate services firm CBRE Vietnam, said. “However, the market will be more challenging as the competition will grow fiercer for developers. This will benefit home seekers and investors as the market will have abundant products while prices will not increase much.”

Duong said the market development in 2018 was robust, beating earlier forecasts as the number of apartments opening for sale and the number of successful transactions did not see any significant decreases over the previous year.

CBRE statistics showed that a total of 65,000 apartments were pumped into the market in Ha Noi and HCM City in 2018 and around two thirds were sold, similar to last year.

Dung anticipated that supply would increase next year and successful transactions would be at around 85 per cent. — VNS