Realty firms pin hopes on better business in 2014

A completed high-end apartment project in An Phu Ward in HCMC’s District 2 - Photo: Dinh Dung

According to Le Chi Hieu, general director of Thu Duc Housing Development Corporation, or Thuduc House, housing prices have become much more stable in 2013 and transactions have increased steadily over the year’s quarters, which is seen in not only low-cost home projects but also middle- and high-class segments.

A recent market survey conducted by Savills Vietnam indicates that the total transactions in the market this year are much higher than that of 2012, leaping 45% year-on-year or some 5,700 condos.

Besides, the number of apartments sold to the market in 2013 has also risen sharply compared to 2012, showing that project owners now have much stronger confidence than last year, said Truong An Duong, head of the market research unit of Savills Vietnam.

Hieu of Thuduc House noticed that homebuyers now understand more about the elements of housing prices in the context that they are given more choices for home purchasing.

The housing market will get more stable in 2014 but whether it can develop depends on State policies, Hieu noted. As the market now belongs to homebuyers, sellers are forced to make better improvements, carry out more well-prepared investments and offer reasonable prices besides introducing attractive promotions and after-sale policies to make sure their products sell well, which is considered a good signal for the property market, he added.

Le Hoang Chau, chairman of the HCMC Real Estate Association, also estimated that the realty market will remain difficult next year but the tough business level will be decreasing gradually as long as the Government’s Resolution 02 on removing difficulties for business and production, supporting the market and handling bad debts is deployed more effectively.

At the same time, Chau insisted that local enterprises should change their business behavior next year and that they have to restructure their investment activities to pick lines of products meeting local market demand.

The problem is that it is urgent to pump capital into local firms struggling with financial constraints so that they can implement business plans, Chau remarked. He therefore urged relevant authorities to disburse the VND30-trillion home loan package quickly to both homebuyers and incomplete housing schemes.

Meanwhile, the possibility of sudden price falls or price hikes of the condo segment in 2014 is very slim, Duong of Savills Vietnam forecast, adding more stable macroeconomic conditions and lower lending rates would be the foreseeable factors driving transaction volumes in the housing market to grow further next year.