Only one apartment project was approved for investment in Ho Chi Minh City in the first quarter.

At the press conference on the socio-economic situation of Ho Chi Minh City on the afternoon of March 28, Mr. Vu Anh Dung, Deputy Head of the Department of Housing Development and Real Estate Market (Department of Construction), said that the approved project is a commercial center, service, and luxury apartments on Nguyen Van Cu Street (Ward 3, District 5).

Over the past two years, the supply of new apartment projects in Ho Chi Minh City has been very limited, with only two projects approved for investment in 2022-2023. Therefore, the fact that only one project was granted an investment license in the first three months of this year shows that the supply of new housing here continues to be scarce.

There are no official figures from the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, but monitoring from the Department of Construction shows that no new housing projects have been allocated land.

There are no new construction projects, nor are there any projects opening for sale in the city at the beginning of this year. Mr. Dung said that in fact, the Department of Construction received two applications for notification of eligibility for capital mobilization in the first two months of the year, but they did not meet the requirements.

"There are new projects that want to open for sale, but they do not meet the requirements according to regulations. In fact, there are still housing products being put on the market by investors, but these are projects that the Department has previously announced as eligible for sale," he said.

The representative of the Department of Construction assessed that the legal factors of the project will greatly affect the supply of real estate. Recently, the Department has recorded the situation of many projects that have been approved for investment, but are entangled in financial obligations, land, planning, or lack of legality regarding the origin of the land. Therefore, these projects are not eligible for capital mobilization.

Regarding complaint settlement, by the end of 2023, the city had resolved 52 petitions related to housing projects, reaching 27.5% of the plan.

According to the Ho Chi Minh City Statistics Office, the real estate business situation in Ho Chi Minh City has shown signs of recovery, with revenue in the first two months of 2024 estimated at VND42,300 billion. Service companies also forecast that the real estate market in Ho Chi Minh City this year is expected to improve, with demand continuing to increase in the industrial and office tenant segment. Meanwhile, the housing market is still limited in supply.