From Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City, the housing market appears headed for recovery in Vietnam. The Borneo Post reports on the good news for the for the southeast Asian nation, which only four years ago suffered the collapse of a property market bubble.
According to Vietnam’s Foreign Investment Agency, the property market attracted US$1.7 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) across 15 projects in the first seven months of the year alone, accounting for 19.3% of total FDI. In contrast, the sector made up just 12.6% of FDI last year.
These signs of recovery are being tied in part to changes in legislation in 2014 which opened the door for greater foreign investment. Due to amendments to the Housing Law and the Law on Real Estate Business, international investors can now purchase residential and commercial property, and additionally, sell and lease residential property that has yet to be built. The laws, which went into effect in July, are expected to further power the luxury home market in Vietnam’s marquee cities, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, where strong gains have already been made this year. According to research by consultancy CBRE Vietnam, “[u]nits launched in Ho Chi Minh City and the capital Hanoi in the first half of the year surged 174% and 91% year-on-year (y-o-y) respectively.” [The Borneo Post]