Land is no longer easy to get hot

Many areas that were once hot spots for land subdivision and sale have been "shelved" for years now with no buyers. The situation of collecting agricultural land, drawing up projects to sell at much higher prices, or buying land and waiting for prices to increase will be difficult to happen with the new regulations of the Law on Real Estate Business.

Suburban land plots are sluggish

Many plots of land with different areas in the suburbs are left abandoned, used as grazing grounds for cattle, fenced with corrugated iron to build factories, and for storing machinery... This is the reality in many areas that used to be "hot spots" for land subdivision and sale.

In Hanoi, areas with many land subdivision projects such as Quoc Oai, Thach That, Son Tay town... are still vacant lots. Notably, some communes such as Co Dong (Son Tay town), Tien Xuan (Thach That district) in 2021-2022 used to be "hot spots" for dividing agricultural land and perennial land (including some residential land) to serve land subdivision and sale, but now there are also no buyers or sellers.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Cuong (31 years old) - a real estate broker in Son Tay town, the price of land in Co Dong commune has not decreased due to speculation and resale in recent years. In addition to small lots with a frontage of only more than 5m right at the foot of the hill, Mr. Cuong also has many lots with a frontage of 7-10m, priced at about 12 million VND/m.².

"Land prices are not decreasing, they are increasing. This area has potential, so many investors come here to buy and resell. People also base their transactions on this price, so the price cannot be any lower," said Mr. Cuong.

However, according to the reporter's research, many plots of land that were divided into plots for sale in Co Dong commune are mostly left with wild grass and no houses built on them, even though they have been open for sale for more than 2 years. According to some real estate brokers, the land in this area is unsold because the demand for housing is not high. Besides, dividing the plots too small will also be difficult for people with real needs.

"Dividing plots too small in the suburbs only serves the purpose of buying and selling, but no one with real housing needs will buy them. This is still a rural area, with houses using thousands of square meters of land, while dividing plots so small will not be suitable for families who want to buy and build houses," said Ms. Bich (Tien Xuan commune). According to Ms. Bich, the owners of some plots of land that have been divided into plots in Tien Xuan commune are not locals, but investors from other places.

Mr. Nguyen Trong Duc - a real estate broker in Thach That district - introduced that land prices in Bai Dai village (Tien Xuan commune) are still increasing with current selling prices of about 27 - 30 million VND/m2.²However, according to our records, these divided plots of land have been almost abandoned for the past 2 years.

Not only in the suburbs but also in Ba Vi district, nearly 50km from the center of Hanoi, there are many plots of land with each plot having a frontage of only about 7m wide, but there are also no buyers.

Surely many people still cannot forget the "land market" that sprung up during the COVID-19 pandemic in Dong Tang village (Dong Truc commune, Thach That district). In just a few days, the previously divided resettlement land next to the Dong Tang village field suddenly appeared with crowds of people gathering for a "land market". Immediately after that, the Dong Truc commune People's Committee sent officials to "quell the chaos".

According to the reporter, up to now, about 30 of these plots of land have not been built on, including many plots with wild grass growing and used by people to grow cassava and vegetables. According to the people of Dong Tang village, many times land brokers have gathered in this area to "inflate prices", buy and sell, and find buyers and sellers with the purpose of cutting roses.

Market transparency, blocking virtual fevers

In the Southern market, many areas that were once hot for land prices are now deserted, although businesses are also enthusiastically organizing programs to attract customers.

In Bao Loc City (Lam Dong), the projects of dividing and selling land plots that have been booming in recent years are still vacant lots with no construction activities. To attract customers to buy land plots, a company continues to advertise the potential of Bao Loc when there will be a highway from Dong Nai to Bao Loc, causing land prices to increase. To gain customers' trust, the company will take customers to the place to see the 200m² plots of land priced at 10 million VND/m².

Notably, many customers who bought land in this project in previous years have not had any construction activities yet.

Meanwhile, a project advertised as a subdivided plot of land in Cu Chi District (Ho Chi Minh City) is still an empty lot. Mr. Ly Hoang Thanh (living in Ho Chi Minh City) said that he spent a large amount of money to buy subdivided plots of land in Phuoc Vinh An Commune, but the land he bought is still an empty lot, and the investor has not been able to subdivide the plots and issue certificates as previously advertised.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Tram (a land broker in Binh Duong) said that projects that divide land into plots and sell them but have unclear legal status are no longer "interested" by buyers. "Nowadays, land investors only choose projects that have standard legal status and are not subject to planning. As for the projects that were previously divided into plots and sold, they cannot sell them because there are no buyers," Ms. Tram said.

Although the market is still very quiet, there have been some rumors recently about prices increasing here and cooling down there. According to real estate business people, such price increases are very rare and small in scale, the rest are still in hibernation. Some people are taking advantage of the information that the Law on Real Estate Business is about to take effect, which will reduce the supply of land, thereby increasing land prices. However, this is just information to confuse the market and "herd chickens".

Speaking to reporters, lawyer Tran Minh Cuong (Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association) said that the revised Law on Real Estate Business has tightened regulations on land subdivision and sale by adding many areas where land use rights cannot be transferred to individuals to build their own houses in wards, districts, and cities of special, type I, type II, and type III urban areas.

On the positive side, the new law is a sustainable solution to make Vietnamese cities more orderly and beautiful, with values ​​in terms of planning, architecture and aesthetics. However, the revised Law on Real Estate Business may have negative impacts on the market in the short term. It is easy to see that the land market will be "shaken" because many transactions are "blocked", and the supply and demand for land will also be less diverse.