Property-Hungry Chinese Out-Bought Vietnamese in Ho Chi Minh, CBRE Says
Zhang Yushuo
DATE:  Feb 13 2019
/ SOURCE:  yicai
Property-Hungry Chinese Out-Bought Vietnamese in Ho Chi Minh, CBRE Says Property-Hungry Chinese Out-Bought Vietnamese in Ho Chi Minh, CBRE Says

(Yicai  Global) Feb. 13 -- Chinese investors have surpassed locals to become  the biggest group of property buyers in the capital city of Vietnam,  while betting on valuations to go up amid the globalizing landscape of  manufacturing. 

Chinese  mainland citizens made up 31 percent of all real estate investors in Ho  Chi Minh last year, property services firm CBRE Group said in its  latest report. This group accounted for 4 percent of overseas buyers in  2017. 

Chinese  buyers tend to invest in high-end housing projects in big Vietnamese  cities such as Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi, Chinese newspaper the 21st Century  Business Herald reported today. Some also consider low-end apartments  around industrial parks due to the growing number of Chinese firms  settling in Vietnam. 

Chinese  buyers often compare Vietnam with old-time Shanghai when buying  properties, hoping to profit from the appreciation of prices, said  Stephen Wyatt, the head of global property firm Jones Lang LaSalle's  Vietnamese unit, said to the newspaper.

Multinationals  will transfer their supply chains to Vietnam, Malaysia and other  countries with mature manufacturing capabilities, a director of Chinese  real estate site Juwai.Com told the 21st Century Business Herald, adding  that Vietnam will become a popular destination to set up factories,  which will improve the infrastructure.

The  government is also offering policy support. Vietnam issued a new  housing law in July 2015, under which developers can sell 30 percent of  the units in each building to foreigners with valid resident visas and  offshore firms.

About  35,000 high-end apartments with a price of over USD1,500 per square  meter in Ho Chi Minh were offered for sale from 2015 to 2017, according  to property services firm CBRE Group. The prices of villas and  townhouses rose by 13.6 percent from two years before that, when less  than 10,000 units were for sale. The  average price of apartments in Ho Chi Minh City has risen to CNY15,000  (USD2,220) per square meter, and some high-end luxury houses are valued  from CNY60,000 to CNY70,000 per square meter.

Robust  economic growth, rapid urbanization, large young population and an  increasing middle class in Vietnam has promoted a demand for  high-quality life, work and entertainment venues, said Chen Lian Pang,  the chief executive of Capitaland Vietnam, told the newspaper. Vietnam's  per capita gross domestic product rose seven times from USD388 in 2000  to USD2,600 last year.

Editor: Emmi Laine 

Follow Yicai Global on
Keywords:   Vietnam,Property, Investor