Long Thanh airport plans send land prices soaring

Signs indicate land for sale in Long Thanh district in Dong Nai province, site of the proposed new airport. (VNS File Photo)

Suoi Trau commune ceases to exist and adjustments and mergers will be done to Cam Duong, Long An, Long Phuoc, Bau Can and Binh Son communes.

A huge number of advertisements have come up on roads in communes near the proposed Long Thanh Airport, including for the Long Thanh Airport Urban Area project in Loc An commune.

A real estate broker named Nam in Loc An said 41 out of 49 plots in the project have been sold at 1.3 – 1.4 billion VND (60,000 USD) for plots of 100sq.m.

However, buyers find it difficult to check the legality of lands. Chairman of the Loc An Commune People’s Committee Nguyen Tan Long said he could not provide any information about them because his administration does not oversee the real estate projects.

Buyers could get information about them from the Long Thanh District People’s Committee, he said.

Ly, the owner of a coffee shop in Long An commune, said land prices in the area had increased from 200,000 VND per sq.m three years ago to 2-3 million VND now.

In the past few months, with land prices around the airport increasing relentlessly, many people in Binh Son, Long An and Cam Duong have become real estate agents.

Nguyen Thi Hang Thuy, a farmer in Binh Son commune, said she could earn a profit of 600-700 million VND from a 1,000sq.m plot of land she bought two months ago.

She said Binh Son residents are happy because the airport project has forced land prices up and helped locals like herself get a "new and better" life.

Vo Tan Duc, Chairman of the Long Thanh District People’s Committee, said authorities are seeking to remove illegal constructions, including works by Alibaba Vietnam, in the district.

The Dong Nai Province People’s Committee has instructed relevant agencies to call for tenders to do survey and land pricing consulting for the Long Thanh International Airport project. It ordered them to adjust land prices.

According to the committee, construction of the airport is scheduled to start late next year.