Property market recovery sees new investors enter the fray

New foreign cash has been poured into Khang Dien, enticed by the upswing in sales of its housing projects

Khang Dien House Trading and Investment Joint Stock Company, a real estate developer in Ho Chi Minh City, has received lots of attention from foreign investors.

Foreign fund management companies such as VinaCapital, Dragon Capital, Saigon AM and Mutual Fund Elite have taken the opportunity to buy into Khang Dien.

In a recent private 48.48 million share-issue, the four funds bought 24.48 million shares valued at VND416 billion ($19.8 million). After this distribution, Khang Dien’s legal capital increased up to VND1,260 billion ($60 million), from an initial of VND750 billion ($35.7 million). Foreign investors now own a 49 per cent stake in the company.

According to Ho Thi Minh Thao, deputy general director of the company, after restructuring its portfolios by selling projects such as ParcSpring and Goldora, the company has escaped heavy debt and taken positive steps forward with the impressive sales of houses at its Mega Residence and Mega Ruby projects.

“Khang Dien’s business results have been remarkable, thanks to the changing from large-scale units ranging from VND4 billion ($190,000) to VND40 billion ($1.9 million) per unit, to smaller scale ranging from VND2 billion ($95,000) to VND2.5 billion ($119,000) per unit,” said Thao.

In the next five years, Khang Dien plans to build a further 3,000 houses.

Another example is the CEO Group which recently saw a successful share issue that doubled its charter capital to VND686 billion ($32.6 million).

This year, CEO plans to invest at least VND1trillion ($47.6 million) for its real estate projects in Hanoi, Ha Nam province and Phu Quoc Island.

Together with the recovery of the real estate market, financial sources from buyers, bankers and investors are streaming into the market. New emerging developers and investors are also joining the market.

A new emerging name is the HBI Joint Stock Company, which recently started construction on its Imperia Garden complex in Hanoi.

Located in Thanh Xuan district, Hanoi, Imperia Garden is a multi-function complex consisting of offices, residences, and a shopping centre.

Located on a 4.2 hectare site, Imperia Garden will squeeze in a population of 5,000 people and be ready for its first tenants in 2017.

According to Nguyen Hong Ngoc, general director of HBI Joint Stock Company, the real estate market, especially in Hanoi, has seen huge improvements.

“This is a good time for real estate developers to commence projects,” Ngoc said. He added that Imperia Garden will be a good start for his company to develop a chain of other real estate projects in Hanoi in the time to come.

Another new face, the GFS Group, has just opened mock apartments for the 1,200 unit Five Star Kim Giang project. Another new investor – TNR Holding, recently launched its Goldmark City Hanoi with 5,000 apartments. Situated at 136 Ho Tung Mau street in the west of Hanoi, Goldmark City covers 12 hectares and good transport links in the future.