Foreign real estate brokers jump into Vietnamese real estate market

Besides foreign brokers who have more than 15 years of operating experience in Vietnam, such as Savills and CBRE or Colliers International and Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) who came somewhat later, the Vietnam real estate market has drawn many new arrivals to the field.

Most recently, real estate agency PropNex has entered into a master franchise agreement with PropNex Realty Vietnam to grow its business in Vietnam.

New foreign faces are appearing in the Vietnamese real estate market

According to the agreement, Singapore-based PropNex gets a 25 per cent stake in the Vietnamese franchisee for a nominal sum of $1.

According to Ismail Gafoor, CEO of PropNex, with its growing economy and positive forecast for the real estate market, Vietnam will be an important place for PropNex to establish its brand.

Vietnam is the latest office of ProNex, following Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

The new franchisee occupies a 2,637 square feet (800,000 square metres) office space in Ho Chi Minh City and employs a sales staff of more than 70. PropNex has more than 7,454 salesmen in Singapore, 800 in Indonesia, and 100 in Malaysia.

Previously, ERA Asia-Pacific, another real estate broker, has expanded its footprint to Vietnam via setting up ERA Vietnam through a master franchise agreement with Eurocapital JSC, the property arm of Eurocapital Group, a private investment company based in Vietnam.

According to Jack Chua, chief executive for ERA Asia-Pacific, Vietnam is an up-and-coming country that saw tremendous growth in home sales last year, due in large part to government measures to improve urbanisation.

“ERA Vietnam will benefit from strong referral channels with its ERA operations in Singapore, a popular target for Vietnamese residents purchasing properties abroad,” Chua said.

ERA Vietnam is now one of eight markets in which ERA Asia-Pacific operates, joining Singapore, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

Huttons Vietnam, a joint venture between Huttons International—the third largest broker in Singapore—has teamed up with Vietnamese company So Mot Realty.

Huttons International currently has more than 3,000 real estate salespersons and over a decade of project marketing experience, holding a significant 60 per cent market share in the sale of primary stock in Singapore. Huttons Vietnam's office was set up in a network spanning across Malaysia, the Philippines, Cambodia, and Indonesia.

The development of the Vietnamese real estate market has been gaining traction. Major cities such as Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Danang, and Nha Trang are the primary targets of foreign brokers.

Together with the new arrivals, long-standing market participants like Savills Vietnam, CBRE Vietnam, Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL), Cushman & Wakefield, and Colliers International are executing services in all ranges from property brokerage, research and consulting, valuation and advisory, project marketing, and management to asset services.