After the "hot" auctions, how is the land market in the suburbs of Hanoi?

According to data from PropertyGuru Vietnam, after recent consecutive land auctions, land prices in districts on the outskirts of Hanoi such as Thanh Oai, Phuc Tho, Hoai Duc... have recorded a slight increase, fluctuating from 3-10%.

For example, in Phuc Tho, land prices increased by 3-5%. In Thanh Oai, land prices increased by 5-7%. Specifically, plots of land previously priced at VND25-30 million/m2 now increased to about VND26-32 million/m2, while subdivided land increased from VND35-40 million/m2 to VND37-45 million/m2.

However, PropertyGuru Vietnam believes that this price growth is not too strong compared to previous years, showing that the market has not yet fully exploded. In addition, although land prices tend to increase, the number of actual transactions in recent "hot spots" of auctioned land such as Thanh Oai is not too much. The reason is that investors still maintain a cautious mentality and continue to observe the market.

Ms. Nguyen Ngoc Mai - an investor in Hanoi shared that in early August 2024, she advertised for sale a 100m2 plot of land in Hoai Duc district for 4 billion VND. But after more than 1 month, this plot of land still has no buyer.

"I bought it in mid-2023 for 3.2 billion VND. I thought that after the Hoai Duc auction reached more than 100 million VND/m2, the market would "heat up" and my land would also "benefit". But in reality, although many people asked, no one made a decision. It seems that everyone is still waiting to see what the market is like," said Ms. Mai.

Similarly, Mr. Le Trung Kien, a land investor in Thanh Oai district, is also considering the option of gradually lowering the initial selling price to make it easier to "sell off". Mr. Kien invested in 2 plots of land in this district (about 3 km from the recent auction area), currently selling them for 35 million VND/m2 but still has difficulty finding buyers.

"The auctioned land is up to more than 100 million VND/m2, while my land is only 1/3 the price, with good infrastructure and a residential area. I intended to take advantage of the "buzzing" market to push the goods, but in reality, it has been for sale for nearly 2 months. Although there are many people asking to buy, most of them are just surveying," said Mr. Kien.

Real estate experts also believe that at this time, although land in the suburbs of Hanoi is attractive to investors due to the effect of "hot" auctions, it is still difficult to make a sudden change. The reason is that paying high prices in some recent auctions is just a trick of a group of speculators to inflate prices. This trick is very easy to expose, so investors do not have much confidence to put money in at this time. The market even quickly declined when these speculative groups withdrew from the market.

In addition, in districts far from the center, land prices are unlikely to increase dramatically because of the large land fund and the lack of large planning projects. Therefore, although they may increase, they are not significant and cannot fluctuate greatly.

According to Ms. Pham Thi Mien, Deputy Head of Market Research, Consulting and Investment Promotion Department of VARS, the suburban land market in Hanoi in planning hotspots such as Dong Anh, Gia Lam, or areas around Ring Road 4 is still receiving attention from investors. In general, land prices in the suburbs of Hanoi have recently increased slightly by 3-5%. This is in contrast to the first quarter when land prices in many places skyrocketed by 20-40%.

Sharing the same view, Mr. Nguyen Quoc Anh, Deputy General Director of Property Guru Vietnam, commented that the land price level in the suburbs of Hanoi has increased by about 10% in the past year. However, not all areas have recorded price increases.

"Land has potential but that does not mean that you can win anywhere you buy it, it depends on the area and time. In the coming period, investors need to be more careful, before spending money, they must rely on data and analyze accurate planning information. There have been many investors who "jumped on the peak" of land and got stuck because they bought it but it was difficult to sell or had to cut losses if they needed money urgently. Land has increased but according to the survey, there are still some areas that are very quiet, transactions have decreased," Mr. Quoc Anh advised.