Airport road to see property take off

Started construction in 2009, the 55 kilometre highway linking Ho Chi Minh City to the new $10 billion Long Thanh international airport is expected to go into operation in  early 2013.

It will stretch through the city’s Districts 2 and 9, and Dong Nai’s Nhon Trach and Long Thanh districts.

Le Cao Hien, deputy manager of the Ho Chi Minh City-Dau Giay-Long Thanh Highway Department, said that after completion, the highway would cut travel time from the city  to Long Thanh district to 20 minutes.

Hien’s prediction is great news for struggling Dong Nai property developers. Some plan to launch residential projects this year despite the poor market. Nguyen Hieu Loc, general director of Nhon Trach Investment  - developer of the 942 hectare East Saigon new urban area, said the company would offer 150 villas in its first project launch in the second quarter.

The $6 billion East Saigon, expected to be Dong Nai’ s industrial, commercial and technology centre, will also benefit from the route. In Nhon Trach district, Thang Long Real Estate will offer 200 land plots in the third phase of its Phuoc An new urban area. Property products in Bien Hoa city such An Hung Phat’s 16ha Bien Hoa Riverside Garden and  Tin Nghia and Kim Oanh’s 33ha Bien Hoa Dragon City are being sold.

Dat Xanh Group has just started construction on its 26.5hs Gold Hill in Trang Bom district and is setting sales plan for other projects such as Suoi Son new urban area and Swan Lake project in the same district. Luong Tri Thin, chairman of Dat Xanh Group, said the rapid construction of the highway and other key infrastructure projects in the province would attract customers.    

Truong Manh Cuong, a broker of Nam Tien real estate exchange floor, said that after the prime minister’s decision to start Long Thanh international airport in 2015 was issued last August, investors ran to find real estate investment opportunities in the area.

“The investors are especially interested in land plots in new urban area projects lying along Ho Chi Minh City-Dau Giay-Long Thanh highway and nearby the international airport,” said Cuong.
Cuong said 78 out of 96 land plots belonging to Nam Tien Real Estate’s 1.6ha Ruby Town project sold in nearly three months at the end of 2011.   

By the end of 2007, Dong Nai’s property market witnessed a land plot fever, sparked by the Long Thanh international airport plans. Thousands of investors flocked to purchased property products in new urban area projects in Nhon Trach district and land prices in the district hit the top at around VND5 million-VND6 million ($241-$290) per sqm. However, as the fever cooled, land plot prices declined sharply.