Property developments back on track to woo new buyers

CapitaLand Development unveiled the two newest projects for the company

Henry Bott, chief representative for Vietnam of Hong Kong-based Swire Properties, told VIR that sentiment amongst foreign investors on the Vietnamese market remains very positive.

“Despite the challenges created by COVID-19, the socioeconomic fundamentals in Vietnam remain strong and I believe foreign investors on the ground here can sense the atmosphere of optimism and opportunity,” Bott said.

Swire Properties is currently coordinating with domestic partner Refico on phase 1 of the River Thu Thiem, a luxury residential project in Thu Duc city of Ho Chi Minh City.

“The project has resumed construction, having navigated the suspension period thanks to the strong management of the teams. Outside of real estate, Swire is also actively looking at opportunities in healthcare and plastics recycling,” Bott said.

“Thanks to the government’s coordinated mobilisation and pragmatic approach to reopening the economy in October, activity in the market appears to be bouncing back. We are already seeing major development projects resume as well as sales launches of new projects, which seem to have been well received by buyers so far. I expect we will see some further pent up demand supporting the market as new residential projects launch in early 2022,” he added.

Meanwhile, Lotte Properties, a subsidiary of Lotte Group, was also in the last steps to prepare for the official restart date of its $900 million Thu Thiem Eco-smart City in Ho Chi Minh City, after many years delayed due to the re-appraisal from competent bodies.

A representative from Lotte Properties refused to confirm the date on which Lotte plans to take the groundbreaking ceremony, although the developer met Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee in November to fix the starting date for the project.

In October, Lotte Eco-smart City was also one of the first projects that received guidelines from the committee for resuming procedures after long delays.

CapitaLand Development (CLD), the development arm of CapitaLand Group, on November 6 unveiled two new key projects – Heritage West Lake in Hanoi and DEFINE in Ho Chi Minh City. CEO Ronald Tay said that Vietnam remains one of the core markets for the company.

“With the addition of the two residential projects, CLD has over 7,300 units across 14 residential developments in Vietnam. We remain bullish on long-term prospects for Vietnam, and we are looking to expand our presence across the country, including new economic assets such as logistics facilities, data centres, or business parks,” Tay said, adding that CLD is also working with local partners and authorities to explore master planning and urban development opportunities to deepen its multi-sector real estate presence in Vietnam.

In this quarter, a range of domestic developers has introduced projects to woo buyers. Nam Long Group has unveiled a range of residential areas for the market, such as Flora Mizuki, EHome Southgate, and Izumi City.

Van Phuc Group is also pushing up its sale process at the year-end with a range of townhouses with lake views, and riverside villas in the Van Phuc City project located in Thu Duc.

“Around 1,000 workers are resuming construction on finishing houses and a combined infrastructure system, then we can hand over to buyers at the end of this year,” said a representative from Van Phuc Group.

Novaland is also pushing the sale of a range of projects, such as Aqua City in Dong Nai province and NovaWorld Phan Thiet in Binh Thuan province.

Meanwhile, figures from CBRE Vietnam revealed that around 13,000 and 17,000 apartment units were expected to be launched in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi respectively in 2021, much lower than the years before when some 35,000 units were launched in each city.