Urban townhouses: a bright investment channel

Townhouses – Stellar investment channel as market heats up

In its summary report early this year, the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association (HoREA) pointed out still good liquidity in the local real estate market as the lion’s share of aggregate demand was backed up by high payment capacity.

Accordingly, almost all mid-range apartment products found owners, while the rate for products at commercial townhouse projects surpassed 60 per cent. A combination of factors, such as policies by authorised management agencies, the green real estate trend among businesses, and growing levels of professionalism on the part of investors have kept the market buoyant.

A HoREA representative commented that market development would be more transparent and wholesome from the third quarter this year, after hurdles are removed.

There was also a shift in “investors’ taste” as they are paying more regard to products offering good returns sustainably. Capital inflows are therefore forecast to pick.

In this context, urban townhouses have grown into a tempting investment channel as most projects are positioned in areas having good connection to the city centre. Albeit coming with steep price tags, these products are multi-functional assets that can both be offered for lease or held on for cash accumulation to avoid slippage.

Townhouses are garnering growing attention among investors

Statistics by Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) Vietnam – part of global real estate services firm JLL – show that the price jump from the past year in the Ho Chi Minh City real estate market will retain its momentum.

In the fourth quarter of 2019, semi-detached houses and villas in the primary market saw price touching nearly VND110 million ($4,780) per square metre, a jump of about 25 per cent on-year. This upward trend has been unchanged in the past four years as new supply of products in this segment has been quite limited.

Unlike scarce supply in Ho Chi Minh City, neighbouring locations such as Dong Nai, Binh Thuan, and Ba Ria-Vung Tau are in the limelight, courting capital flow from both developers and investors into commercial townhouse projects. This came on account of diverse factors, such as increasingly perfect infrastructure in these areas, vast land bank providing space for the development of modern associated utilities, and above all – good investment value.

Projects close to the central business districts with convenient transport are luring customers

Industry experts assumed that like in the case of Ho Chi Minh City several years ago, townhouses in these areas promise buoyant returns in the years ahead when the market experiences booming development.

Rising profitability coupled with flexible payment policy

Just finalising the purchase of a townhouse at the Aqua City project of Novaland Group, Minh (District 2, Ho Chi Minh City) shared that after carefully considering market trends, his family decided on placing their money in a townhouse in an area close to Ho Chi Minh City.

Minh believes satellite urban areas like Dong Nai province offer seamless infrastructure and convenient transport while staying within easy reach of the city.

Townhouse units at Aqua City offer modern on-site utilities

“The numbers at Aqua City talk for themselves: the total area reaching 1,000ha, more than 500ha of water surface, green trees, and complete utility system. More than that, the project developer is a well-established brand, so we have no concerns about progress or quality,” Minh said.

Aside from the advantages in space and investor profile, Aqua City entices buyers with a very attractive payment policy. For the first time, Aqua City deploys special incentive for Novaland shareholders. Along with this, between February 25 and June 30, 2020 customers who have been holding at least 1,000 Novaland (NVL) stocks for at least six consecutive months will be able to enjoy a discount of VND55 million ($2,390) when buying products at Aqua City project. The programme will run alongside other promotions at the project.

“With these incentives, becoming a townhouse owner at Aqua City is a cost-efficient option,” said Quoc Huy, a Novaland shareholder and veteran investor.

Amidst a warming up real estate market and the developer’s attractive sales and incentive policies, Aqua City townhouses promise to steal the spotlight in the southern market.