Property Insight - the only in-depth and research - based informational channel in Vietnam

While international investors continue flocking into the Vietnamese real estate market and the country emerges as one of the most exciting emerging destinations in the Asia-Pacific region, market information is crucial for investors to gain in-depth understanding about the property industry.

As a source of practical, multi-dimensional, and professional information provided by leading specialists, the “Property Insight” programme, the first of its kind in Vietnam, is a source of formal, valuable, and up-to-date statistics and research for foreign investors to make inroads into the local real estate market as well as for individual homebuyers to make better-informed investment decisions.

A treasure trove of valuable information

Abundant investment capital has always been going with high yield expectations and quality living demands from investors. The current situation of lacking trusted and professional market information and property database in Vietnam has been posing many challenges for both local and international investors since they require strong fundamentals in real-time market pricing, accurate data resources, as well as potential investment trends in the market.

Inspired by famous talk shows and TV news like Housing Market News by CNBC, Money Undercover by Bloomberg, or The Real Estate Talk show by Channel News Asia, SonKim Land has created and developed the “Property Insight” programme to cover the Vietnamese market.

Each episode of the programme consists of two parts, the first part covering various news and, most importantly, statistics about the housing market. The second is a talk show with the participation of leading experts and top business leaders from different sectors. At the show they will discuss and explain macro-economic issues and their impacts on the local property sector, bringing the audience, especially foreign investors, an easy-to-digest, no-nonsense overview of Vietnam’s real estate landscape.

In episode 4 of the Property Insight about the “Market beat in first half of 2019”, Kenneth Atkinson – founder and senior board advisor from Grant Thornton Vietnam – observed that the country’s very positive macro-economic indicators would maintain investor optimism about the Vietnamese market and this momentum will last into the next couple of years.

Kenneth Atkinson, founder and senior board adviser, Grant Thornton Vietnam

“However, there are still many turbulences going on around this, particularly China and the US, which at the moment has positive impacts for the country because there are a lot of companies moving or looking to move manufacturing out of China and into Vietnam. We are also seeing significant growth in direct Chinese investment into Vietnam and also from Hong Kong,” he commented.

Multi-dimensional and in-depth knowledge for accurate investment decisions

While investment appetite is rising higher than ever before, investors and homebuyers have always been seeking investment opportunities through formal sources of information providing insight analysis and multi-dimensional views on the local real estate market.

With more money pouring into commercial real estate, Ho Chi Minh City is a hotspot for overseas capital inflows. Among the world’s most dynamic cities, it is a convergence of not only favourable economic factors but human, cultural, historical, and geographic endowments that could create a driving force for development.

The human factor has always been regarded as the most important characteristic of each city, according to Nguyen Thi Hau, secretary general of Vietnam Association of Historical Sciences (VAHS). People from other regions have come to Ho Chi Minh City, first because it is an ideal place to do business and second because they see it as a destination to settle, not just to work and then leave.

Experts in Episode 1 discussing the topic of Dynamic City

“From a historical point of view, especially in terms of culture, there will certainly be clashes but they will find common ground or shared cultural points, which will result in more dynamic lifestyles. The dynamic lifestyle will, in turn, create dynamism in doing business,” she shared in episode 1 of the “Property Insight” that ran under the theme “Dynamic City”.

On the other hand, the urbanisation has created the dynamism for Ho Chi Minh City with over 80 per cent of the population being townsfolks and a huge number of visitors annually, according to Neil MacGregor, managing director of Savills Vietnam. “The young population, along with a very energetic startup community and strong development of high-tech industries have contributed much to this city’s attraction,” he explained.

That dynamism has also created a vibrant property market over the past few years. Duong Thuy Dung, senior director of Valuation, Research, and Consulting at real estate advisory firm CBRE Vietnam, saw a positive picture despite many fluctuations.

“The steady growth of the national economy has been supporting the development of the local real estate industry. In the first half of 2019, prices had increased across all segments, and in the second half, the prices up in the affordable and mid-end segments. The average hike was 20 per cent on-year, which went as high as 25 per cent in the high-end segment,” she shared in episode 4.

Real estate pricing trend in 2019

“Property Insight” is the only programme in Vietnam which provides the audience and viewers with a broad outlook on the country’s economy and its real estate landscape.

For the very first time, this programme offers a gathering of leading property experts discussing the hottest topics in the market, from city planning (“Livable City” or “Dynamic City”) to segments like “Shop house” or new market trends with “Smart home”. It is really worth the attention of both domestic and global investors who would like to understand the Vietnamese economy.