Massive transfer of luxury apartments after a few months of booking

When the 9-building apartment project of a foreign investor in the West of Hanoi started accepting bookings in the middle of the year, Mr. Thanh Binh (Nam Tu Liem district) paid to book two apartments for investment. However, he could not get the apartment he wanted because the broker reported that it was "sold out" right at the apartment matching event.

Recently, brokers have continuously offered him a variety of apartments for sale. Even the small apartments of 42-62 m2 that were sold out the earliest are now available for sale. The broker said that all the apartments have sales contracts, the difference is 50-70% lower than the time of booking, about 100-250 million VND, depending on the release stage.

For example, with the same 54 m2 apartment, if buying in phase one, Mr. Binh has to spend a total of 4.2-4.3 billion VND (including the difference of 300-400 million VND for the agent). If choosing an apartment in phase two or three, the difference will be reduced to 100-200 million, even "cutting the loss" compared to the sales contract of 50-100 million VND.

"The total price of the next phase is up to 4.5-4.7 billion VND because the selling price of the investor is 15-20% higher than the first phase," said Mr. Binh, wondering about the investment efficiency when the capital is large while the number of transfers is very large.

Similarly, at the project of more than 2,000 apartments in the Eastern urban area, the transfer of high-end apartments is also common. Ms. Thu Huyen, a broker specializing in the apartment segment in the Eastern area, said that the project has only matched apartments in the first quarter of the fourth quarter, but so far, the fund of transferred apartments is "diverse for customers to choose from, the most beautiful apartments are also available".

Buyers need to pay a difference of 50-200 million VND, even many apartments are priced the same as the investor. However, the time to sign the purchase contract is next year, so buyers who want to buy will have to make a transfer of the purchase right, this broker said.

The number of apartments for sale has also increased sharply on online real estate markets. Data from Batdongsan channel shows that the number of apartments for sale in Hanoi increased by 25% in the beginning of the fourth quarter compared to the end of the third quarter. Meanwhile, the demand for renting apartments continued to decline from previous months.

The sales director of a large real estate company in the North said that the massive transfer of apartments is mainly concentrated in a number of newly launched projects in the West and East of Hanoi. The common point is that buyers who receive the transfer of the purchase right by a deed or a new sales contract pay about 15-20%, then continue to pay according to the progress of the investor.

Mr. Pham Duc Toan, General Director of EZ Property, said that with new apartment projects, agents must deposit and commit to the number of apartments sold each month with the investor to get good policies. Therefore, many floors may have to hold on to the goods from the time of booking, leading to the basket of goods being quickly "sold out". This not only creates a sense of scarcity for buyers but also helps the floor to transfer beautiful apartments with a large difference.

However, the end of the year is the time when many trading floors are under pressure to close sales, so the previously held apartments are released in large quantities. According to experts, many agents "dump goods" leading to a sharp decrease in the difference of 70-80%, even equal to the purchase contract price. Many brokers also use the trick of "cutting losses" of 50-100 million VND to attract buyers, but it is very difficult to sell because of the nature of the above difference reduction.

Sharing the same view, Mr. Nguyen Chi Thanh, General Director of Ho Tay International Building Company, said that the fourth quarter is the time when many investors want to "take profit", taking advantage of the increasing heat of apartments since the beginning of the year.

However, many areas that were once hot spots for price increases, such as the West, East and South, have now shown signs of cooling down in terms of interest and transaction volume. Meanwhile, the continuous addition of new apartment supply has made the pressure to push sales even stronger.

Savills Research predicts that by the end of this year, the Hanoi market will have 9,700 units for sale, of which 88% will come from the next phases of large projects. From 2025 onwards, about 110,000 units from 106 projects will be launched, concentrated in the outlying districts such as Dong Anh, Hoai Duc, Gia Lam and Hoang Mai district.

Previously, in the housing development plan for the 2021-2025 period (phase 3), the Hanoi People's Committee said that there were 85 projects undergoing investment preparation procedures with nearly 50,000 products. After 2025, 26 projects are also expected to be completed with nearly 10,000 units.

Experts predict that in the coming time, the housing market will gradually stabilize again, but apartments will hardly have a sharp decline while still maintaining high prices. The reason, according to Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh, Chairman of the Vietnam Real Estate Brokers Association, is that land funds for project development in the center are increasingly scarce, while the costs of land use, construction materials, labor, etc. are increasing.