Property

The Department of Planning and Investment in north-central Nghe An province is inviting investors to implement the Bac Nghi Kim urban area and Nghi Kim residential area projects in the provincial capital Vinh. The goal is to build a new urban area on a total area of nearly 18 ha in the city with a total construction cost of about VND1.2 trillion ($52.27 million). Investment categories include a social housing area, a supermarket, a service area, public works, garden villas, and adjacent houses.

The rapid development of e-commerce has led to greater demand for leasing land, factories, and warehouses. Many foreign investors are therefore spending billions of dollars on investment strategies in Vietnam’s industrial and logistics real estate segment.

Data from real estate platform Batdongsan.com reveals that while investor interest in most of the country’s property markets has fallen sharply due to Covid-19, northern Bac Giang and Bac Ninh province continue to attract widespread attention, with interest in the former rising 22 per cent and the latter 44 per cent from June to July.

The Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association (HoREA) has recommended that the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) and commercial banks consider offering support to real estate businesses, investors, and borrowers. It proposed cuts of 2 per cent per annum to lending interest rates, facilitating access to new loans, and offering support in tax and land use fees.

According to the Ministry of Construction, about 80 per cent of real estate exchanges, which are only acting as brokers, will have to close. Only real estate trading platforms belonging to large-scale enterprises with financial potential and directly acting as project investors will continue to operate. Real estate brokerage activities have not won the trust of consumers because non-eligible real estate or real estate projects are still being offered on the market.

The Vietnam Association of Construction Contractors (VACC) and a number of other associations have suggested urgent solutions to allay the difficulties facing construction and real estate businesses affected by Covid-19. Recommendations include extending the time to pay value added taxes; cutting corporate income taxes by 50 per cent; implementing a 0 per cent interest rate on bank loans in service of construction sites and projects that have had to cease construction due to anti-pandemic measures; and deferring payment of land use fees.