Haunted by the tragic traffic jams in Hanoi, many people are selling their suburban homes.

In 2016, Ms. Nguyen Thi Nhung's family (from Hung Yen) bought an apartment in An Khanh (Hoai Duc district, Hanoi ) for 1.8 billion VND. At the time Ms. Nhung bought this apartment, there were not many projects being implemented in the Thang Long Avenue area, so the road was quite open. Although her house was about 20 km from her workplace, it only took Ms. Nhung about 30 - 40 minutes to travel.

“ At that time, I found choosing a house in the suburbs very suitable, because the traffic was convenient, and commuting did not take much time. Meanwhile, suburban houses had open spaces, few residents, and children had plenty of places to play, ” said Ms. Nhung.

However, for over a year now, Thang Long Avenue has become a nightmare for Ms. Nhung and her husband as it is constantly congested, especially during rush hour.

“ There are days when my husband and I have to travel more than 2 hours to get to work. Normally, it takes 1.5 hours to travel 15 km every day ,” Nhung shared.

Tired of traffic jams, Ms. Nhung decided to sell her house to buy an old apartment or condominium in the inner city.

Many people are afraid of traffic jams so they have moved to the inner city to live. (Illustration photo)

Similarly, Mr. Tran Van Tien (from Thanh Hoa) also shared that in 2017, he bought a house in Thanh Ha urban area (Ha Dong district, Hanoi), while his office was in Tran Phu (Ba Dinh district). When buying the house, due to financial constraints, Mr. Tien accepted to buy a house far away.

But having to travel too much to work in the inner city every day because of traffic jams, the couple felt tired. Due to the constant struggle with traffic jams, having to breathe in dust and smoke, plus getting older, the health of Mr. Tien and his wife clearly declined.

Mr. Tien said: "There are 24 hours in a day, but my wife and I spend 2-3 hours on the road just driving and breathing in dust and smoke. This time is too wasteful and harmful ."

Not to mention, traffic jams also affected Mr. Tien's work. Every Monday, he was late for meetings. There were days when he left 30 minutes earlier than usual but was still late.

Because it was so inconvenient, Mr. Tien decided to sell the house at a discount of 200 million VND to buy a house in an alley in the inner city.

“ Even though the space in the inner city will be cramped, a small house will have more limitations in living, but at least it is in the center, convenient for traveling and has many good services,” Mr. Tien explained his decision.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Toan, a long-time real estate broker in Hanoi, in fact, houses in the inner city have always been attractive to buyers because of their convenient location, good infrastructure and services. However, the trend of moving from the suburbs to the inner city only occurs among a segment of the population, mainly those who work in the inner city. As for those who work in the suburbs, they naturally prefer to live in suburban houses.

“ There is very little supply of houses in the inner city, so prices are always high. Most young families, after a few years in the suburbs, will move closer to the city center because of good utilities and good transportation ,” said Mr. Toan.

Ngoc Vy

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