Prices begin to drop in apartment primary market in HCMC

Property consultancy CBRE Vietnam said in a report that the average price in the primary market dropped to below VND60 million per square meter, down 4.8% from the first quarter.

This is the first decline in the last five years, according to the report.

Some high-end projects in the city’s east are trying to sell apartments at VND35-65 million per square meter as against VND50-75 million in previous months.

According to property consultancy DKRA Group, the primary market declined due to promotions, incentives and gifts offered by developers in May and June, but the number of transactions was down to a 10th from a year earlier.

Two projects in Binh Tan and Binh Chanh in HCMC have recently cut prices from previous rounds of sales.
They are also offering to pay 8% interest on bank loans for buyers for 18-24 months.

Meanwhile, the secondary market continued to decrease, with the average price falling by 4% from the first quarter and 5% for the year.

In the luxury and high-end segments, mainly in Thu Duc City, prices are down 20-30% for the year.
Colliers Vietnam said the apartment market remained quiet in the first half of the year.

David Jackson, its CEO, said not many affordable apartment projects were launched in HCMC during the period, and their prices remained “too high” for low-income earners.

In the secondary market, many people sold out at lower prices to cut their losses, he said.

Duong Thuy Dung, executive director of CBRE Vietnam, expected banks to reduce loan interest rates in the second half.

There could be positive signals in the market in the final months of the year with the speeding up of public spending and efforts to remove legal obstacles plaguing the real estate market, she added.