Ho Chi Minh City real estate boom: Strong North-South cash flow

(CLO) Recently, the real estate market has recorded a strong "Southward" wave of cash flow from investors in the North, especially Hanoi, flowing into Ho Chi Minh City and surrounding areas.

Ho Chi Minh City has a great opportunity to enter the top 100 best cities in the world.

Ho Chi Minh City is entering a new phase of development, with the goal of becoming an international megacity, in the top 100 best cities in the world by 2045. In fact, in recent years, Ho Chi Minh City has made many breakthroughs in institutions and transport infrastructure.

In particular, the city is forming a multi-polar urban model - compact urban - TOD urban model along with the formation of the International Financial Center. These factors open up an unprecedented growth cycle for Ho Chi Minh City.

Dr. Can Van Luc, Chief Economist of BIDV . (Photo: RT)

At the workshop “Southward cash flow: Sustainable attraction of real estate in central Ho Chi Minh City” held on November 26, Dr. Can Van Luc, Chief Economist of BIDV, affirmed: Ho Chi Minh City has many advantages to become an international megacity.

Firstly, Ho Chi Minh City is the economic "locomotive" of the whole country, contributing up to 23.8% of GDP; 22% of import-export turnover; 24.2% of FDI attraction; 36.7% of the national budget revenue.

Second, Ho Chi Minh City has the advantage of "owning" a number of special preferential policies, such as Resolution 98 of the National Assembly issued in 2023, or Resolution 222 issued by the National Assembly in 2025 on developing an international financial center in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang.

“Vietnam only has a few cities with special mechanisms for development, in which Ho Chi Minh City is the leading locality in terms of special mechanisms and incentives. Ho Chi Minh City will soon have a free trade zone, high-speed railway, metro… so in the coming time, more support policies will be needed,” said Mr. Luc.

Third, Ho Chi Minh City is determined to complete the planning and develop a modern, smart infrastructure system: metro system, highways, airports, seaports, logistics, industrial parks, urban railways and high-speed railways, etc.

Dr. Can Van Luc assessed that the advantages of economic growth, special mechanisms and increasingly perfect infrastructure are creating a strong driving force for the real estate market in Ho Chi Minh City.

Thanks to that, investment capital will continue to flow into the city, especially in central areas and places associated with key infrastructure projects, opening up room for sustainable growth in the coming time.

Agreeing with this assessment, Associate Professor Dr. Tran Dinh Thien, former Director of the Vietnam Economic Institute, commented: The real estate market nationwide, especially in Ho Chi Minh City, has clearly recovered since the beginning of 2025. This result comes from the Government's continuous efforts to remove bottlenecks for the market, a field considered a "priority battlefield" thanks to its large spillover role to the economy.

Overview of the Workshop. (Photo: RT)

According to him, the Government has established a synchronous policy framework such as: Promoting strategic infrastructure investment, promoting public capital disbursement, increasing credit for the private sector, and preparing the foundation for a period of high growth.

At the same time, the Government and city leaders dealt with thousands of legal problems to “unblock” nearly 2,900 projects. Programs to eliminate temporary housing and develop social housing were also given special priority.

At the same time, the Government is determined to perfect the institutions, amend the Land Law, develop a Resolution on piloting the Real Estate Transaction Center, a Resolution on controlling real estate prices, issue a Decree on the National Housing Fund... and continuously review planning and laws on construction, housing, and real estate business to handle practical problems.

“With these strong moves, I believe the real estate market outlook in the coming time will be even brighter,” Mr. Thien emphasized.

After merging with Ba Ria - Vung Tau and Binh Duong, both localities have their own strengths and lead the country in those strengths. He believes that the new Ho Chi Minh City possesses very strong growth drivers, owning a complete value chain of industry - coordination - logistics.

In particular, with new development space, Ho Chi Minh City faces more open opportunities: From ground space to open sea space, sky space, underground space, digital space, cultural space.

“These spaces will certainly expand the space for Ho Chi Minh City the most compared to the whole country. When the spaces open up, money and people will flow here. Because the class of Ho Chi Minh City is affirmed to be the class of international competition,” Mr. Thien emphasized.

Money flows tend to move south.

Recently, the real estate market has recorded a strong “Southward” wave of cash flow from investors in the North, especially Hanoi, flowing into Ho Chi Minh City and surrounding areas. Not only due to the difference in price levels, this trend also comes from the need to diversify portfolios, seek long-term profit margins and anticipate the restructuring of the Southern market.

Data from batdongsan.com.vn shows that investors from the North currently account for 60-61% of real estate searches in Ho Chi Minh City, a number large enough to establish a clear shifting trend.

The real estate market nationwide, especially in Ho Chi Minh City, has clearly recovered since the beginning of 2025. (Photo: TP)

An example of the trend of money moving south is The Privé project in Nam Rach Chiec, Thu Duc. This project has attracted the attention of a segment of Hanoi investors thanks to its location near the center and its completed legal procedures.

The South Rach Chiec area is also benefiting from infrastructure development and the formation of the Thu Thiem International Financial Center, creating additional demand for housing for experts and high-quality workers.

Explaining this phenomenon, Dr. Le Xuan Nghia, former Vice Chairman of the National Financial Supervision Committee, assessed: Ho Chi Minh City has a great attraction for people across the country, especially those from the North. This is a place with great pressure on labor resources and there are few areas with such a high income level.

“This comes from the fact that businesses in the Southern region, including Ho Chi Minh City, are very sensitive to technology and have open recruitment criteria, so they attract better talent. Thus, real estate demand will also increase according to the law,” said Mr. Nghia.

Meanwhile, Mr. Vu Cuong Quyet, General Director of Dat Xanh Mien Bac, said that Ho Chi Minh City has always been a vibrant and explosively developing city. In fact, the Northern money flow has been flowing into Ho Chi Minh City since 1993-1994, not just now "going South". For example, in 2007, in Phu My Hung area, he recorded about 60% of the residents were from the North.

Mr. Vu Cuong Quyet, General Director of Dat Xanh Mien Bac. (Photo: RT)

Mr. Quyet added: Northerners have a very early investment mindset, which has been shown by their investment in Da Nang since 2010 or Nha Trang in 2013-2014. They are also very sensitive in choosing products, not only men but also women. Dat Xanh Mien Bac's customers are mostly women.

When investing, Northern investors often seek to optimize efficiency. Convincing them to buy for living is more difficult than convincing them to invest. If they have complete and accurate information, especially about infrastructure and traffic, they will boldly spend money. Besides the need to invest in Ho Chi Minh City, the need to buy for living here is also very large.

According to Mr. Quyet, bringing products from the South to the North opens up many opportunities and potentials. However, the only limitation is that the infrastructure of Ho Chi Minh City is still weaker than that of Hanoi. Therefore, real estate in the center of Ho Chi Minh City is priced the same as the center of Hanoi, while real estate outside the belt is significantly cheaper.

Regarding the current price level, he said that the opportunity to invest in real estate in the center of Ho Chi Minh City is still very good. Compared to Hanoi, the price of real estate in the center is equal or lower, and the area outside the belt is much cheaper.

“In short, the cash flow from North to South is a strong trend and will continue to spread, contributing to raising the value of real estate in the region in the future,” he emphasized.

Source: https://congluan.vn/bat-dong-san-tp-hcm-bung-no-dong-tien-bac-nam-tien-manh-me-10319379.html