Figures from the Ministry of Construction (MoC) and the Vietnam National Real Estate Association (VNREA) show that apartment prices nationwide remained very high in the second quarter of 2026, despite signs of moderation. Hanoi continued to lead the primary market, with prices averaging around VND123 million ($4,731) per sq m, down slightly from the previous quarter. In Ho Chi Minh City, the average price was some VND108 million ($4,154) per sq m, while primary market prices in Da Nang remained at around VND91 million ($3,500) per sq m.
More than 24,100 apartments were launched in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in the first half of the year, accounting for about half of all nationwide supply. However, luxury and Grade A properties accounted for almost all new supply, pushing up primary market prices and narrowing the pool of buyers able to afford them.
Excessively high home prices and their persistent upward trend have created significant social welfare challenges over recent years. Such challenges will become even more severe if new housing supply increasingly moves beyond its intrinsic value and the affordability of most households.
Fundamental shift
Sharp increases in home prices have also driven up rents, putting pressure on household living costs, particularly for younger people. As a result, more people are choosing to remain single, forgo marriage and children, or adopt a “DINK” (Double Income, No Kids) lifestyle. “With property prices surging, people have to ‘work day and night’ to buy a home, missing their ‘golden years’ for starting a family and having children,” said Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh, Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Realtors (VARS).
A reluctance to marry and have children will lead to a shortage of young workers in the future, a decline in the workforce and productivity, and greater pressure on the social welfare system. Appropriate solutions are therefore needed to address the housing needs of the broader workforce. Alongside increasing the supply of social and rental housing in urban areas, sufficiently strong policies are needed to support and encourage businesses to develop affordable commercial housing.
Experts say the sharp rise in home prices is driven not only by higher project input costs but also by speculation and price manipulation, an imbalance between supply and demand, a severe shortage of affordable housing, inefficient use of land resources, and difficulties for developers in accessing capital and navigating investment procedures and project-related legal requirements.
Against this backdrop, in recent years a number of policy directions for housing development have been issued, introducing several important shifts in approach.
A fundamental shift in the housing development mindset is underway, moving from a predominant focus on commercial housing toward the simultaneous development of commercial, social, and rental housing. Rental housing is being positioned as a strategic, long-term segment serving a broad range of residents, particularly factory workers, laborers, public employees, civil servants, and members of the armed forces.
Housing development should follow market mechanisms under effective State orientation and management. The State should play an enabling role through institutions, policies, planning, and financial and credit instruments.
Housing development must also be integrated into broader urban planning, land-use planning, industrial park development, and public transport planning. Priority should be given to linking housing with Transit-Oriented Development (TOD), urban renovation and upgrading areas, industrial parks, and key economic corridors, supported by synchronized infrastructure.
A wider range of resources should be mobilized rather than relying solely on the State budget. State resources should be used efficiently to guide and stimulate the market and create incentives for private sector participation.
Alongside housing for sale, priority should be given to rental housing, particularly rental apartment models in major cities, industrial parks and economic zones, growth centers, and key economic corridors.
At the same time, the Party and government have issued a number of resolutions and decrees aimed at removing obstacles facing the real estate market, improving the efficiency of land-resource management and use, promoting social and worker housing, reforming construction investment procedures, accelerating digital transformation, strengthening decentralization and the delegation of authority to local governments, and tightening measures against speculation and market manipulation that create unreasonable price levels.
In particular, Resolution No. 21-NQ/TW, issued by the Party Central Committee on July 28, 2026, explicitly calls for continued amendments to the Land Law and related legislation to ensure greater coordination, connectivity, and consistency. It calls for appropriate mechanisms to regulate the additional value generated by land-use planning, infrastructure investment, changes in land-use purpose, and urban expansion, with the aim of preventing vested interests, corruption, waste, and misconduct.
The Resolution also calls for generating resources to modernize infrastructure, upgrade urban areas, develop rental housing, and implement social welfare policies. It calls for research into financial and tax policies, with an appropriate roadmap to promote efficient land use while addressing idle land, delays in putting land into use, and land speculation and land hoarding that distort the market and push land and housing prices far beyond genuine housing demand and people’s ability to pay.
Many experts believe that once these directions are translated into concrete policies and regulations, they will provide a solid legal foundation for a more transparent and efficient real estate market. “The ultimate goal of developing the real estate market should not simply be to increase investment or asset values,” said Mr. Nguyen Van Khoi, Chairman of the VNREA. “More importantly, it must serve people’s lives, create a safe, civilized, and modern living environment, and ensure broad access to housing, particularly for young people, workers, and the growing middle class.”
Development priorities
According to Mr. Khoi, under the country’s new growth model, the real estate market in general and the housing sector in particular need to shift decisively from extensive to intensive development, from asset speculation-driven growth to development based on genuine demand, and from stand-alone projects to the creation of integrated, green, smart, and highly-resilient urban ecosystems.
The first priority is to develop a balanced range of market segments that meets genuine social demand. This means addressing the persistent supply-demand imbalance of recent years. The goal for the real estate market should not simply be to increase the number of projects but to increase the number of people who can afford housing. A more balanced market structure should include commercial housing, affordable housing, social housing, long-term rental housing, rent-to-own housing, and accommodation for factory workers and other laborers. Each segment should have its own policy framework tailored to its target group.
The second priority is to make rental and rent-to-own housing a strategic breakthrough. Policymakers should consider direct support mechanisms for low-income tenants, factory workers, young people, experts, and internal migrant workers. The long-term goal is to gradually realize the aspiration that “everyone has access to suitable housing,” in line with the country’s economic development conditions.
The third is to curb speculation, prevent resource waste, and stop unreasonable price inflation by improving the tax system and land and real estate databases, increasing market transparency, and effectively controlling speculation, price manipulation, artificial price inflation, and the hoarding of land and projects.
The fourth is to make science and technology, innovation, and digital transformation new drivers of the real estate market. From planning, land management, project appraisal, investment licensing, and transactions to brokerage, property management, and customer service, processes should be digitized and data connected in a synchronized and unified national system.
The fifth is to continue improving the institutional framework to support development, with the goals of harmonizing legislation, reducing administrative procedures, shortening investment preparation times, increasing transparency in project implementation, unlocking land resources, and encouraging the development of social, affordable, and rental housing.
Mr. Khoi added that real estate businesses need to fundamentally restructure their development models. The sector cannot continue pursuing short-term growth that relies heavily on financial leverage or rising land prices. In the new phase, businesses need to adopt more sustainable models that put genuine market demand at the center and product quality and quality of life at the core of their value proposition.
Proposed measures
In its latest report, the MoC proposed a range of measures to increase housing supply, reduce development costs, simplify processes and procedures, stabilize prices, prevent misconduct, corruption, and speculation, and complete the real estate database.
The Ministry said it will focus on completing the draft amendments to the Law on Real Estate Business and the Law on Housing, including specific policies for a new housing development model comprising rental housing, public service housing, policy housing, and commercial housing.
It will also lead the drafting and submission to the government of a resolution assigning targets for social and rental housing development to localities for 2026-2030. This will provide a basis for allocating social and rental housing targets according to the actual needs of each locality, ensuring progress toward national housing development goals and broader socio-economic development programs.
The MoC will also monitor, inspect and urge localities to meet their social and rental housing targets while coordinating efforts to review and resolve difficulties and bottlenecks and bring long-delayed real estate projects to a definitive conclusion. These measures are intended to support growth, stabilize the market, and maintain social order and security.
At the same time, it will urge ministries, agencies, and local governments to implement the information system and database on housing and the real estate market in accordance with Government Decree No. 357/2025/ND-CP dated December 31, 2025. The focus will be on updating and standardizing housing and real estate market data, operating and utilizing the system, and ensuring that information is regularly updated to support management, policymaking, and forecasting while improving market transparency.
The MoC has also proposed specific responsibilities for relevant ministries and agencies. The Ministry of Finance is to continue reviewing and improving policies and regulations covering investment, bidding, taxation, land finance, pricing, securities, corporate bonds, and related areas to remove obstacles and unlock resources for the real estate market.
In addition to guiding the effective implementation of land regulations, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment will also study and improve land policies to support rental, social, and affordable housing. It will guide localities in reviewing plans and land reserves and preparing cleared land for housing development, particularly rental and social housing, and will also urge and guide the completion of land databases and their connection with housing and real estate market databases.
The Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Public Security will urge project developers to mobilize resources and accelerate housing projects for the people’s armed forces. They will also direct investigations and strictly and promptly handle cases involving illegal brokerage, property fraud, and manipulation of social housing application records.
Elsewhere, the State Bank of Vietnam will accelerate disbursement under the VND145 trillion ($5.58 billion) social housing credit program, step up lending to people under 35, and study and improve appropriate credit policies to support the rental housing market.
For local governments, the MoC has called for the continued implementation of tasks and solutions set out in resolutions, decisions, directives, official telegrams and directions, and conclusions issued by the government and the Prime Minister.
At the same time, they should accelerate social and rental housing projects, proactively allocate resources for compensation and site clearance, and create cleared land reserves for social, rental, and affordable housing. They should also step up administrative reform and prioritize investment, land, planning, construction, and environmental procedures for social and rental housing projects.
Local authorities should encourage capable and experienced investors to participate in social and rental housing development in accordance with regulations, while strengthening efforts to monitor, inspect, and supervise project implementation.
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