Hanoi (VNA) – Apartment sales in Hanoi declined in the second quarter,while their supply increased in the first half of the year, a new report says.

In the second quarter, the high-end segment was the only part of Hanoi condominiummarket that gained, going up 1 percent and 3 percent in primary and secondarymarkets, respectively.

The second quarter report by CBRE, a leading property management agency, saidthat 8,086 units were launched in 27 projects across the city, a year-on-yearincrease of 23 percent but a quarter-on-quarter reduction of 14 percent.

Most of the apartments offered in the second quarter were those made by largeprojects after their first offerings failed to generate sufficient sales.

As in previous quarters, projects in the West and Southwest of Hanoi stilldominated new launches, accounting for 68 percent of new stock, CBRE said.

The mid-end segment led new stock launches at 55 percent.

However, the market saw a 24 percent quarter-on-quarter reduction in the numberof sold apartments at 4,650 units. This number is expected to recover nextquarter when some attractive projects go online by the year end, the reportsaid.

The Vietnam Real Estate Association said total value of property inventory in Hanoias of June 20, 2017, was about 5429 trillion VND, a reduction of 161 billion VNDcompared to the end of 2016.

The structure of the property products experienced reasonable adjustments, thereport said.

Most condominiums, including high-end units, had small and medium-sizedapartments of 50-60sq.m per unit, so the selling price of each was not toohigh, suiting buyers’ capacities.

The CBRE Hanoi report also said that there was not much change in averageprices between the first and second quarters in both primary and secondarymarkets.

Meanwhile, JLL, another foreign property consulting company in Vietnam, said inits quarterly report that on the primary market, prices declined in allsegments, down 3.2 percent quarter-on-quarter.

In fact, there was a significant price decrease in luxury apartments afterincreasing for consecutive quarters, it said. But it was the “affordable” orlower end apartments segment that witnessed the lowest drop in the secondquarter of 2017, JLL said.

On the secondary market, prices decreased at a higher rate than the primarymarket. In several projects, prices declined significantly because of thedowngrade of properties, it said, without elaborating.

The JLL report also said more than 20,000 new units were expected to becompleted by the end of the year, mostly in the mid-end segment.

In the 2018-2019 period, approximately 30,000 units are scheduled to enter themarket each year.

Sales are expected to increase in the coming quarters, especially in theaffordable and mid-end segments, according to the JLL report. Prices are likelyto be stable in the coming time.

CBRE Hanoi said that in the second half of 2017, in addition to the supplycoming from the West and Southwest areas of the capital city, there are plansto open new sales projects in the central districts.

By segment, the market is still waiting for affordable projects developed byreputable developers. In addition to affordable prices, the developers plan tooffer better quality, apartment structure and conveniences for residents, itsaid.

Vietnam’s property market has developed strongly over the last 20 years,contributing greatly to national socio-economic development. But there arestill limitations and challenges facing the sector.

At a property market review seminar held recently in Hanoi, the ConstructionMinistry’s Housing and Real Estate Market Management Department also saidlong-term solutions were needed to ensure sustainable development of the marketin the future.

Based on several years of research on the property market, the ministry is preparinga plan that forecasts future trends.

This will be used by the Government to adopt policies and measures to regulateand manage the market with the aim of promoting stable and healthy development.The plan would also identify factors affecting Vietnam’s real estate market inthe 2017-2020 period and beyond, the department said.

It notes that the Hanoi and HCM City markets experienced growth in differentsegments during the 2010- 2016 period.

Hanoi had a large absorption in segments of office for lease and commercialspaces, while supply was higher in these segments.

Meanwhile, growth in tourist arrivals boosted the hotel segment. Overall, therewas no redundancy.

The plan envisages greater development of the secondary market in large citiesover next five years, with average housing prices remaining stable for segmentswith large absorption.  

The resort segment is set to attract more investment in the coming years, theseminar heard.-VNA