Chinese buyers of high-end and luxury property products accounted for 2 percent of the total customers in 2016, and 4 percent in 2017, according to data from CBRE Vietnam. However, the rate surged to 31 percent in Jan-Sep 2018.
Previously, real estate products were only bought by foreigners who lived and worked in Vietnam, but now they decide to own Vietnamese houses even when they have not set foot to the country yet. Domestic developers have actively advertised their projects in foreign countries, helping individual investors have deeper insights into the local property market.
In the past two year, a number projects were introduced in Singapore and Hong Kong, then developers strongly promoted their products in China’s Shanghai and Beijing last year.
More Chinese investors have become interested in HCM City’s property market because they saw the development similarities between the southern economic hub of Vietnam and Shanghai, CBRE said.
About 3 decades ago, Shanghai was almost like the current HCMC,with many vacant land areas and low-rise buildings. At present, Shanghai is one of the world’s leading financial centres with soaring real estate prices.
According to An Gia Investment, the propetry developers has sold more than 80 products of River Panorama and Sky89 projects to Hong Kong customers. In April, over 30 brokers from the Asia Bankers Club came to Vietnam to work with the project developers, aiming to make meticulous preparations for product marketing and distribution in Hong Kong.
Savills’s experts believed foreigners have been more interested in acquiring high-end apartments in Vietnam amid a fall in housing supply. Right at the launch of the apartments, the foreign occupancy rate is almost at 30 percent.
In addition, overseas investors also started their engagement in property development in Vietnam. For instance, Singaporean-based CapitaLand last year announced that it spent around $29.78 million buying a 0.9-hectare land lot in Tay Ho district, Hanoi, and $60 million on a 6-hectare lot in HCMC’s district 2 to develop its housing projects.
