With its favourable location, good infrastructure and moderate land prices, the southern province of Dong Nai has become the focus of attention of property developers in recent years, a seminar heard in HCM City on Thursday.

Le Trong Minh, editor–in-chief of Dau Tu newspaper, said Dong Nai is a good choice for home buyers who cannot afford to buy in HCM City and are looking at neighbouring provinces.

Dong Nai lies on many important traffic routes such as National Highways 1A and 20; National Road 51; the HCM City –Long Thanh-Dau Giay, Ben Luc-Long Thanh, Dau Giay-Phan Thiet, Dau Giay-Da Lat, and Bien Hoa-Vung Tau highways; and the north-south railway, he said.

HCM City’s first metro route would be extended to the province’s Bien Hoa city, he said.

The province now is home to nearly 300 property projects by both local and foreign investors, many of them worth billions of dollars, he said.

Su Ngoc Khuong, property consultant Savills’ investment director, said the province itself has nearly 100km of railway and six stations.

Besides, its property market got a boost from the Government’s approval for Long Thanh International Airport, he said.

Convenient transportation is the top factor in property investment, he said.

Land for construction purposes has attracted more investment than other segments, with investors eyeing the future, he said.

Nguyen Thanh Lam, deputy director of Dong Nai Province Department of Construction and chairman of the Dong Nai Property Association, said the property market in the province is divided into three groups.

The first group includes projects connected with the existing urban areas like Bien Hoa city, Long Thanh, Trang Bom, and Long Khanh.Those property projects require only short-term investment.

The second group are properties located in the suburbs of towns and cities, with technical infrastructure connected to the main technical infrastructure under development. The projects required investment between 5-7 years, he said.

The third group comprises projects around the Long Thanh Airport, with a total of 21,000ha. Secondary investors that want to invest in those areas should have strong financial capacity to minimise risks, he said.

"I think, investing in the first and second property groups will be the most effective, and can get profits immediately while investing in the third group will take longer time because of lack of planning," he said.

Le Hoang Chau, chairman of the HCM City Real Estate Association, said the Government has approved construction of the Cat Lai Bridge 2 between District 2 and Nhon Trach in Dong Nai.

“In five more years, thanks to this bridge, the property market in Nhon Trach will take off and this is an opportunity for investors.”

He hoped the project would be carried out on schedule.

But the market also has risks and requires investors to find reliable source of information before buying, he said.

“Recently we have received complaints from 300 people about two real estate brokerage firms who used tricks such as renaming projects and developers, forging 1/500 zoning plans and adding details to them to inflate land prices by VND100-200 million per plot.”

The projects are located in Nhon Trach, Long Thanh and Trang Bom, he said.

Lam said the two are registered in HCM City, and the Ministry of Public Security is investigating.

Tran Thi Cam Tu, general director of Eximrs Real Estate Services JSC, said: “This is a promising market to invest in.”

But she said investors should not rush but instead should check the title deeds of properties carefully to avoid risks. — VNS