Is Vietnam – the onetime Asian Tiger – finally biting back?

Apr 10, 2013 | Comments 2

The country's property market came to an emphatic standstill a few of years ago, leaving many developments incomplete, showrooms empty and investors licking their wounds. In some areas, property prices plummeted by 50 percent and economic growth is set to drop from seven percent to an estimated 4 percent this year.

The tide may be gradually turning at the luxury end of the property market, however, with the news that certain projects are back on track and branded hotel and integrated resort properties, such as Banyan Tress Group's Laguna Lang Co and Hilton' Garden Inn Hanoi are set to enter the market.

A recently released Ho Chi Minh City Q1 report from CBRE also indicates that interest rates are finally returning to levels which may encourage the removal of finances from deposits, while monetary policy is also easing somewhat. Residential unit launches experienced a year-on-year 21 percent increase, 70 percent of which were at the high-end of the market, according to the report.

Major condominium units slated to launch in HCMC through 2013 include Delta RIver Tower, SSG Tower and Happy Valley phase two. Yet while obvious investment opportunities exist, challenges still remain, most notably the lack of loans and finance available.

Vietnam undoubtedly has a long way to go before its property market comes close to the boom period experienced a decade ago, but for the first time in recent memory, there is at least a degree of quiet optimism, even if nobody is ready to vocalise it just yet.

Filed Under: Editor's view

Tags: Banyan Tree • hilton • vietnam property • vietnam real estate

Article source: http://www.thethailandlinks.com/2013/04/14/is-vietnam-the-onetime-asian-tiger-finally-biting-back/