Apartment segment leads Hanoi property market in liquidity despite transaction decline: realtors

In late May a property developer launched five new apartment towers in its existing project in the western part of the capital.
Within four hours 95% of the new units were booked at an average price of nearly VND60 million (US$2,360) per square meter, 65% higher than in the previous phase of the project launched four years ago.
Hoang Van, a real estate broker based in the area, said the launch saw close to 2,000 bookings, primarily for small units measuring 32-54 square meters, though interest in apartments has been declining from a high in March.
Similarly, another project launched this week has already seen all two-bedroom units booked, leaving only some three-bedroom ones available at VND59 million per square meter, she said.
“But the larger and more expensive units were also sold, albeit slower, as buyers are offered flexible payment plans with no interest or principal payments for 24 months.”
Duc Thuan, head of sales at a brokerage in Nam Tu Liem District, said in May the number of apartment transactions decreased by 20-30% from March.
But they still sell much better than land, resort properties and townhouses, with the booking rate at some recently launched projects reaching as high as 80%, he said.
Data from real estate trading platform Batdongsan shows that interest in Hanoi apartments has plummeted by 40% since mid-April. Nevertheless, it remains the most liquid segment, Le Bao Long, strategy director at Batdongsan, said.
Pham Duc Toan, CEO of real estate agency EZ Property, said the apartment market has gone flat after a boom in the first quarter.
Transactions in the secondary market are slowing down, but new units remain quite liquid, especially small-sized ones, he said.
The segment would continue to have the best liquidity in the second half of this year since demand remains high.
Concurring, Long added that since the supply of new apartments is low, prices are likely to increase in the coming months.
Property market research firm OneHousing expected 22,000 new apartments to enter the market this year. Around 70% of the new supply would be high-priced, it said.
Next year many premium projects, priced at VND80-230 million, are expected to be launched in the western and northern areas, and very few units would be available at VND50 million or less, it added.

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