Vim and Vigor

/in /by

Amendments to the housing law permitting foreigners to buy have given the real estate market a new lease of life.

On a Saturday afternoon in mid- May dozens of people headed to the Flamingo Dai Lai Resort in northern Vinh Phuc province for the grand opening of its golf course and miniature putting course. Not all of the foreigners at the gathering were thinking about a round of golf, though, with many looking at the resort’s villas instead. One Filipino businessman told VET that he was inspecting villas at Flamingo Dai Lai as the amended Law on Housing, which permits foreigners to buy houses in Vietnam, takes effect on July 1. “The quality of property in Vietnam is rising to international standards, especially with real estate investors targeting foreigners who wish to own a house in the country,” he said.

On recent business trips, he added, he has seen many posters and banners at the airport advertising villas and apartments. “Advertisements about Vietnam’s real estate are also appearing more widely on international media,” he said. Vietnam’s real estate market is going through a period of unprecedented vibrancy as real estate companies prepare to do business with foreign homebuyers.

GREAT EXCITEMENT

Under the amended Law on Housing foreigners will be allowed to own bouses in Vietnam with leaseholds of 50 years, extendable for a further 50 years, but as a whole must not own 30 per cent of apartments in any one block.

VinaCapital was among the first real estate investors to get preparations underway quite early to attract foreign homebuyers. In its sales campaigns it has introduced special programs for foreigners and overseas Vietnamese to buy apartments at its Azura luxury apartment project in central Da Nang city. According to Mr. David Blackball, Managing Director of VinaCapital’s Vinaland Investment Fund, with the greater number of enquiries as July 1 approaches it designed a memorandum of understanding to provide first right of refusal to these potential buyers. “This is an effective strategy to complement the current sales program, which continues to see the vast majority of apartments being sold to local Vietnamese buyers,” he said. He also revealed that the company has secured three such buyers to date, with an additional six deals still under negotiation.

In Hanoi, the Hoa Binh Group was the first investor to adopt concrete plans to sell houses to foreigners. Though still selling to Vietnamese customers it has left a relatively large number of houses in its Hoa Binh Green City project in Minh Khai Street available to foreign homebuyers and overseas Vietnamese. Mr. Nguyen Huu Duong, General Director of the Hoa Binh Group, told VET that the company is speeding up construction of the H2 block so that apartments can be handed over to customers next month, which coincides with the introduction of the amended law.

[Source : Vietnam Economics Times No.256 June 2015]