Real Estate Market Expected to Boom in 2007

The real estate market in Vietnam is set to flourish next year with a great number of foreign investors in the field entering the country, said deputy minister of Natural Resources and Environment Dang Hung Vo.

 

Once being admitted to the World Trade Organization (WTO), the investment environment will open up with financial and real estate markets being well positioned for international integration, the deputy said.

 

Foreign investors with financial potential and trading capability will be lining up in great numbers for the Vietnamese real estate market.

 

As the market has become saturated in many Asian and Southeast Asian countries, various foreign investors are eyeing Vietnam where urbanization has sped up and the demand for housing, hotels and offices is very high in the big cities, outstripping supply, the minister said.

 

Over recent months, various business delegations from the US, South Korea, Australia, China and Singapore have come to Vietnam to inquire into the market, with various agreements signed between them and local partners.

 

“Foreign investors are changing their mind in a positive way,” said Vu Quang Hien, Director of Citiplus, a real estate consulting and management joint stock company.

 

He added that foreign investors and domestic partners now find it easier to negotiate real estate projects and local investors now have various opportunities to cooperate with foreign partners in the field.

 

However Hien said troublesome legal procedures could possibly become barriers hindering foreign investment in real estate.

 

He proposed that housing and land-related laws should include specific regulations stipulating investor benefits after obtaining land use rights, and including detailed guidance on transferring investment projects.

 

The real estate market in Vietnam will develop in a more professional way as the country has joined the WTO, Deputy Minister Vo said.

 

Some policies on land and housing will be adjusted in line with international integration and in the direction of creating a level playing field for both domestic and foreign investors, he said.