An islander named Ngo Thi Dao in An Hai commune has been asking around in order to sell a 200-sqm land plot nearby the sea. She wanted to sell the land and divide the money among her children, then she would find another place to live.
Dao said: "I'm determined to sell it. But I don't want to find a broker because of high commission fees."
Real estate prices on Ly Son island have soared.
Tran Van Phuong in Dong village even postponed the best time to plant scallions to sell their land by the sea. He also planned to sell the 400-sqm land. Then Phuong and his wife can find somewhere else cheaper to live. He believes his land can be sold for a total VND5.6 billion ($240,000).
He added: "Our neighbours have sold nearly all of their land. One neighbour sold an 80-sqm plot for VND1.2bn ($51,200). Who would have thought the land prices would rise so much.”
Land prices on Ly Son Island have sharply risen in the past two years, especially along the coastal road that connects An Vinh and An Hai. Price of a 200-sqm land used to be VND1 billion ($42,000) to VND2.5 billion. However, the figures have risen to VND5bn to VND6bn. Customers are mostly from other provinces and cities who want to open businesses on the island.
Over the past 2 years, local authorities dealt with 1,933 transfer, donate, change the purpose of using, separating land plot cases.150 cases were dealt with in the first three months of 2019. Last year, they dealt with a large number of illegal constructions and businesses.
The situation can badly affect Ly Son District 1/2000 detailed planning on an area of 1,530 ha. Accordingly, traffic constructions, shopping centres and other projects have been planned while real estate transactions mostly occurred along main streets.
"Ly Son is a small island with dense population. Demand to subdivide property or to make small paths is very high. We have temporarily refuse to deal with subdividing requests,” said Nguyen Thi Phuoc, deputy head of the Department of Land Registration.
Chairman of Ly Son District Nguyen Quoc Viet said they had warned the residents and investors. "We already planned which area will be used to build hotels, which one is for residential areas. Violators will be strictly punished," he stressed.
