Discussing the overall outlook of 2018 at the summit, Duong Thuy Dung, senior director at CBRE Vietnam, said that 2018 has seen high property supplies, with roughly 33,000 apartments launched in the Hanoi market as of last month (up nearly 2,000 units against 2017) and some 32,000 units offered for sale in HCMC (up 1,000 units). Vingroup plans to offer another 10,000 units late this year.

Unlike last year, the market has focused more on the mid-end segment. An estimated 57% of the homes offered for sale in HCMC were mid-end products, priced at U$800-US$1,500 per square meter. High-end and low-end housing in HCMC accounted for 35% and 8%, respectively.

Meanwhile, in Hanoi, high-end housing accounted for 30%; mid-end, 61%; and low-end, 9%.

National consumption, as of last September, averaged 75%, whereas consumption in HCMC was 77% and in Hanoi was 87%.

Housing prices have continued their upward spiral this year. While the high-end segment recorded a price hike of 8-9% against last year, the prices of the mid-end and low-end segments have remained stable this year, only picking up 1%-3% in certain projects. High-end houses may see prices up to US$6,000-7,000 per square meter given the limited supply in central areas.

Overseas Vietnamese were the main home buyers last year, but this year, 70% of home buyers are investors from China, South Korea and the United States, with respective proportions of 41%, 19% and 3%.

The trend of buying homes to live in has declined this year, giving way to the trend of buying to invest. In particular, home purchases for investment in the high-end segment have risen from 50% as of last year to 61%. Meanwhile, only 26% of home buyers will live in these houses, and 13% are buying to invest over the short term, compared with last year’s figures of 35% and 15%, respectively.

Nguyen Quoc Anh, deputy director of batdongsan.com.vn, remarked that there is room for growth in the construction of apartments in Hanoi and the northern localities next year. In the south, supplies of high-end apartments will be low.

In HCMC’s neighboring localities, such as Long An, Binh Duong and Dong Nai, transactions during this year’s final quarter have dropped but may increase next year as available residential land in HCMC is now limited.

Meanwhile, housing transactions in localities close to Hanoi such as Bac Ninh, Bac Giang and Ha Nam may be busy next year, with more customers expressing interest in these areas.