After renting a three-bedroom house for two months and having just found enough people to live with him, Minh Tung received a notice that the owner was taking it back to sell because the price was right.
''When I heard the news, I was dizzy. I was both angry and guilty towards the people I was renting with,'' said Minh Tung, 25 years old.
Last year, he rented a house to share with some friends from his hometown. Three months ago, the owner took it back, claiming to sell it while the price was high. The group of Quang Ninh compatriots spread out to find a place to stay. Minh Tung rented an empty apartment in a small alley in Cau Giay district for 7 million VND, with a one-year contract. He posted it online, looking for 5 other people to live with him.
The house had been vacant for a long time, so several people took turns cleaning it before moving in. They bought an air conditioner, beds, wardrobes, and a water heater, intending to stay there long term. But after two months, the owner posted an ad for sale. Customers flocked to see it. Ten days later, the owner announced that he had sold it for VND23 billion, making a profit of VND11 billion after 10 years. The tenants had one month to move out.
In early 2023, Thuy Linh, 25, rented a two-bedroom apartment in Ba Dinh district, paying VND96 million for the entire year. In August 2024, she was asked to move out in early October because the apartment had been sold. In addition to returning three months' rent, the owner compensated her with an additional VND10 million in contract fees. "The VND34 million they returned to me is nothing compared to selling the apartment for nearly VND4 billion," Linh said.
Not only inner-city renters like Linh or Tung are in the situation of "losing their jobs halfway", Ngoc Mai and her sister who rent in An Khanh commune, Hoai Duc district are also in a similar situation. "The landlord said he didn't need money, the land in the suburbs was also difficult to sell so he committed to a long-term lease", she said.
But since the beginning of 2024, when real estate prices have increased, the owners have continuously welcomed visitors to see the house. In June this year, they sold it for 2.5 billion VND.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy, a broker in the mid-range rental segment in Hanoi, said that the phenomenon of landlords willing to compensate deposits to get back houses for sale has occurred dramatically since the beginning of 2024.
Explaining this, Ms. Thuy said that due to the continuous increase in house prices, investors buy and resell a lot. While waiting for the price to increase, they rent it out to take advantage, and when there is an opportunity, they sell it. ''Those who are unlucky have to rent. The deposit paid to customers by a few million VND is nothing compared to the billion-dollar profit,'' she said.
As the real estate market becomes more active towards the end of the year, there may be more tenants suddenly being pushed out of the house because the landlord is taking back the house to sell. ''I have a client who moves three times a year. After a few months, the landlord announces that he is taking it back to sell,'' Ms. Thuy said.
According to the latest report on the Hanoi real estate market in the third quarter of 2024 by Savills, house prices recorded an upward trend in the first 9 months of the year. The primary market increased by 6% quarter-on-quarter and 28% year-on-year. The selling price of old apartments also increased by 10% quarter-on-quarter and 41% year-on-year.
Since 2020, secondary market home prices have increased by an average of 17% per year.
In the third quarter of 2024, the land and housing market in some northern provinces, especially Hung Yen and Hanoi, saw a wave of local price increases. In Hanoi alone, land prices in Dong Anh, Hoai Duc, and Thanh Oai districts increased by 53-90%.
Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh, Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Realtors (VARS), said that the situation of evicting tenants or suddenly increasing rents is a problem when the market is unbalanced, with demand exceeding supply.
In reality, the current supply can only serve the wealthy and investors. Low-income workers are the group most affected by the loss of affordable, low-cost housing in big cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
Pressure from selling prices has caused the rental market to grow. In the first 9 months of 2024, apartment rental yields in Hanoi reached 4.6%, Ho Chi Minh City was 4.1%, while the national average was 4.5%.
The 2024 Batdongsan Real Estate Consumer Psychology Report shows that the demand for renting apartments has increased sharply in recent years. This trend is concentrated in the apartment type, accounting for 38%, followed by private houses and boarding houses, accounting for 19% and 20%, respectively.
The price of rented houses is increasing day by day, making low-income people like Tung miserable. In the past few days, they have been looking for vacant houses, hoping that the prices will be the same as now to save money and make use of the furniture.
''But the rent has increased as much as the selling price. A house in the basement of more than 30 square meters, the owner renovated it, divided it into two rooms, and asked for 6.5 million VND even though it had no furniture,'' Minh Tung said.
''The place with reasonable price is far from work. The place a little closer is sky-high. Every day we wish the owner would stop selling the house,'' said the 25-year-old man.
Linh is searching for a new place to live in groups that rent apartments and cheap collective housing. She has found that the average price for a two-bedroom apartment in Dong Da, Cau Giay, and Ba Dinh districts is not less than 10 million VND per month. She plans to try to find a house in the suburbs, hoping that it will be cheap and there will be few buyers so that she will not be evicted.
To prevent tenants from being evicted from their rented homes when prices increase, Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh said that the involvement of authorities and management levels is needed. It is necessary to take advantage of new points of the law and find solutions to promote social housing projects and affordable housing.
This increase in supply will reduce demand pressure, balancing the pressure on fish prices. In addition, it is also necessary to calculate macro management methods, tax real estate in the right direction to reduce speculative motivation, encourage behaviors that are beneficial to society.
"If we keep shouting slogans about stabilizing rents, no landlord will do it, especially when they see immediate benefits," said Mr. Dinh.
Minh Tung's group is searching everywhere for a new place to rent. If he can't find an apartment that fits his budget, he'll have to accept renting a basement apartment, even though he knows it's expensive.
University (according to VnExpress)