Authorities vow to iron out persistent delays

The NBB Garden III high-rise apartment complex by Nam Bay Bay Investment was finally approved by the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City in December after a 16-year delay. Planned over an area of more than 80,000sq.m in District 8, with an investment of VND2.7 trillion ($112.5 million), persistent legal issues have forced the venture into a standstill.

Nguyen Manh Khoi, deputy director of the Department of Housing and Real Estate Market Management under the Ministry of Construction, said that in the past years, the real estate sector in Ho Chi Minh City and the whole country generally has had difficulties in implementation.

“However, competent bodies and the government, through the recently passed laws on housing, real estate business, and land, will resolve issues, creating better conditions for developers to accelerate projects,” Khoi said.

Photo: Lotte Eco Smart City Thu Thiem

Ho Chi Minh City leaders in particular have spent the last few months attempting to unclog delayed ventures. Lotte Group’s billion-dollar Lotte Eco Smart City Thu Thiem has been at a standstill for two years, but Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee believes it to be an “outstanding case” which needs to be resolved immediately.

“It is necessary to soon remove obstacles for large-scale projects, such as Lotte’s, to both increase the city budget and the supply of new products to the market,” committee Chairman Phan Van Mai said during a regular meeting held in October.

It was agreed that Lotte Group will have to pay around $635 million in land use fees in the fourth quarter as estimated by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Natural Resources and Environment

The Eco Smart City is the largest of 22 projects with financial obligations that the DoNRE has forwarded to the municipal Department of Finance and the standing committee of the Ho Chi Minh City Land Valuation Council for collection.

By the end of 2024, the People’s Committee said it would completely remove obstacles and push forward many other projects, including Metro Star funded by Metro Star Investment, 11,000sq.m of land in Hoc Mon district being developed by Western Saigon Company, the Song Da-Thang Long high-rise housing complex from Hung Thinh Incons, and Celadon City from Gamuda Land.

The real estate market has bottomed out and will start a new growth cycle from 2025, and businesses are preparing for this new scenario, according to Luu Quang Tien, deputy head of the Dat Xanh Services Real Estate and Financial Research Institute.

“Alongside that, creating new products for the new year, several real estate businesses are searching for more land so that there is enough available land for upcoming development,” Tien said.

According to Dat Xanh Services, 2024 demonstrated a very diverse hunt for land. For example, Vinhomes invests more in the south with new urban areas in Long An province and Can Gio coastal district of Ho Chi Minh City, while PV Invest entered Dai Phuoc island in nearby Dong Nai province. Meanwhile, many traditional southern investors such as CapitaLand, Keppel, and Phu My Hung are heading north.

Apart from urban development, Vingroup and Ha Do Group are also entering industrial real estate in Ha Tinh and Ninh Thuan provinces. Novaland and Ecopark continue to develop resort real estate in Binh Thuan and Phu Tho provinces.

Phat Dat, An Gia, Dat Xanh, Hoang Huy, Ecopark, Eurowindow, TNG Holdings, and many others are looking for large land banks ranging 50-150 hectares across the country.

Ngo Huu Truong, deputy general director of Hung Thinh Group, assessed that in 2025, the real estate market will still face many challenges, but that does not mean it will be deadlocked.

“After recent difficulties, businesses need to choose the right market, segment, and potential customers, focusing on products with real value. At the same time, it is necessary to set the correct price,” Truong said.

“In the past, when the market developed strongly, the price was easily increased, but now costs must be cut as much as possible and appropriate prices must be set so that the market can easily absorb it. It is also necessary to focus on the right customer segments. In addition to macro factors and legal policy support from the government, businesses also need to re-strategise and develop more methodically,” he said.

Duong Van Bac, CEO, Novaland Some of Novaland’s key projects have finally achieved significant legal clearance. This is the result of more than two years of tireless efforts from Novaland and other agencies, and is a legal push, creating confidence for the business community in the government’s firm direction. The legal dismantling of key ventures and those that have a pervasive impact on the development of a region is also the fight against waste in economic development, bringing the country into a new era. For Novaland, Aqua City in Dong Nai province is expected to complete the detailed planning adjustment of 1/500 of the project in the first quarter of 2025. In November, The People’s Committee of Binh Thuan province issued a decision to adjust the land lease for NovaWorld Phan Thiet in Binh Thuan province as a basis for resolving land financial obligations. Nguyen Thi Van Khanh, deputy general director Gamuda Land Vietnam The real estate market in Ho Chi Minh City and Vietnam in general in the past few years has witnessed a scarce supply, putting pressure on prices. To meet the increasing demand, the most important thing for investors is to prepare available land. This is a prerequisite. For homebuyers, location is critical. Real estate investment must run alongside infrastructure, as infrastructure speed will be an important premise for growth. Therefore, we must prioritise preparing land with full legality. In addition, current real estate products not only focus on central locations but also expand to further areas, taking advantage of developed infrastructure to provide products at reasonable prices but high growth potential. During recent years, we have successfully established six new projects. In the coming time, we will continue to negotiate with local partners to seek new investment opportunities. However, our competitive advantage does not in land price but in product quality and value that we bring to customers.