Real estate 2023, too much money poured into land for speculation

Land transactions skyrocket

Commenting on these figures, Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh, Chairman of the Vietnam Real Estate Brokers Association, said that the reason for the difference in the number of land transactions compared to the number of apartment and individual house transactions in 2023 is due to the lack of goods in the market.

According to Mr. Dinh, land transactions are many times higher than apartment and individual house transactions, showing that transactions in the market are not real and not sustainable because apartments are products that people buy to live in, meeting real housing needs, while land is often bought for investment, for saving, with the purpose of holding assets and waiting for profit to sell.

This does not encourage healthy market development because in some places, the whole area is hoarding land to sell for profit, while local authorities do not require landowners to build houses on land according to planning and land use plans, so deserted urban areas have been formed.

To prevent this situation, Mr. Dinh said that the Housing Law and the Real Estate Business Law recently issued by the National Assembly have regulations restricting projects of dividing plots and selling land, focusing resources on developing completed housing projects, projects that only divide plots and sell land will no longer be approved.

According to data from the Ministry of Construction, in 2023, the number of successful land transactions increased gradually over the quarters, especially in the last 6 months of the year, the number of land transactions skyrocketed.

Specifically, the number of land transactions nationwide in 2023 is as follows: in the first quarter there were about 67,270 transactions, in the second quarter there were about 67,250 transactions, in the third quarter there were about 91,280 transactions, and in the fourth quarter there were about 81,470 transactions.

Prices of individual houses and land are decreasing

Regarding the transaction prices of individual houses and land plots on the market, according to a research report by the Institute of Construction Economics, last year, the secondary transaction prices of individual houses in provinces and cities tended to decrease steadily, with a decrease of 10 - 14% compared to 2022.

Specifically, in Hanoi, the transaction price of individual houses and land plots decreased by 10.8%, in Da Nang it decreased by 13.1%, in Khanh Hoa it decreased by 12.3%, in Dong Nai it decreased by 10.9%, and in Ho Chi Minh City it decreased by 12%.

However, the selling price of villas and townhouses in the two major cities of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City is still high, although the transaction volume in the year decreased compared to 2022.