The upward trend in apartment prices has slowed down.

After a period of rapid growth, apartment prices and transactions in the secondary market have now slowed down.

Báo Thanh niên•04/06/2026

Sell below market price to "close the deal"

Ms. Ngoc Anh and her husband (who work in the former Binh Thanh district) said that in October 2023, she sold her townhouse in the former Nha Be district to buy a 3-bedroom, 93 ^m² apartment in the Masteri Thao Dien apartment complex (Thu Duc City) for 6.9 billion VND. To date, the value of her apartment has increased to over 12 billion VND.

In April 2024, she planned to buy another apartment in this building, measuring 70 square ^meters and priced at 5.6 billion VND, to bring her parents, who live in Hanoi, to live with her. However, for various reasons, she hesitated and didn't finalize the purchase. Now, when she returned to look for a similar-sized apartment, the price has increased to nearly 8 billion VND.

"I'm an only child, so I planned to bring my grandparents to live with me in Ho Chi Minh City. At that time, I intended to buy a 70 ^m² apartment, but during negotiations, the owner demanded an increase of 700 million VND. Six months later, a similar apartment was priced at 7 billion VND, and now it has increased to nearly 8 billion VND. Apartment prices in this area increased most sharply in the 2024-2025 period, but have stabilized in the last few months, no longer rising as rapidly as before," Ms. Ngoc Anh said.

Đà tăng giá căn hộ đã chững lại - Ảnh 1. — After a period of rapid growth, apartment transactions in the secondary market have now slowed down.

PHOTO: DINH SON

Mr. Phan Minh Trong, CEO of Modoho Investment Joint Stock Company, a real estate broker in the former Thu Duc City area, also stated that the period from 2024-2025 and the first few months of 2026 will witness strong growth in the apartment market in Ho Chi Minh City. Primary apartment prices are continuously setting new benchmarks, and the increased investment and connectivity in Ho Chi Minh City's infrastructure have driven up secondary market apartment prices.

However, developments in the secondary market are now showing a different picture, with the number of successful transactions in recent months decreasing significantly compared to the same period last year. Prices have therefore stagnated, and homeowners needing to sell quickly are even forced to adjust prices or accept more serious negotiations.

In some areas that previously experienced sharp price increases, such as Thu Duc City, District 7, or the former Binh Thanh District, many apartments are being offered for sale at prices equivalent to those at the end of 2025, or even 3-7% lower depending on the project and location.

For example, the Victoria Village project, located on Dong Van Cong Street, right on the main Mai Chi Tho road (formerly Thu Duc City), saw prices rise from approximately 70 million VND/ ^m² at the end of 2025 to nearly 100 million VND/ ^m² by April 2026. However, for over a month now, prices have stopped increasing, and transactions have decreased. Many customers needing to sell urgently have even reduced prices by around 100 million VND per unit compared to market value.

Even financially well-off customers are cautious.

According to Mr. Dinh Minh Tuan, Director of the Southern region of Batdongsan.com.vn, from the second quarter of 2025, the market will begin to adjust and slow down, or even stabilize, as prices in the secondary market have increased too rapidly over the past 2-3 years and have been affected by several issues, including rising bank interest rates.

In the secondary market, buyers have started cutting their profits, meaning they are selling at a lower price than the current market price, because they previously bought at a much better price than the current one.

In addition, some customers who borrowed to buy houses 2-3 years ago are now forced to sell their apartments at a lower price than they bought them for, as the preferential interest rate has expired and interest rates have risen sharply. These are cases where people bought houses but haven't received them yet, so they lack the cash flow to pay the interest.

Moreover, the number of transactions for actual housing is now only 60-70% compared to the same period last year, while investors buying for rental purposes have decreased to 30%.

"Many investors are still holding speculative properties that they haven't been able to sell, causing cash flow problems and consequently affecting real demand. Meanwhile, high prices coupled with sharply rising interest rates have slowed down the secondary market. Projects that customers bought 2-3 years ago, where only about 30% of the payment has been made, still haven't received their homes, especially in projects with an excessively large number of units. Many customers, due to financial pressure, are unable to continue with their contracts and are forced to sell at a loss compared to the initial price," said Mr. Dinh Minh Tuan.

Đà tăng giá căn hộ đã chững lại - Ảnh 2. — Excessively high interest rates are the main reason for the slowdown in prices and trading.

Not only in Ho Chi Minh City, but also in Hanoi, according to data from the One Mount Group Market Research and Customer Insights Center, the Hanoi real estate market in Q1 2026 only reached approximately 19,500 transactions, a decrease of 7% compared to the same period last year and 48% compared to Q4 2025. This decline was observed across most types of real estate.

This development shows that the market is not only experiencing short-term impacts from seasonal factors, but its internal recovery strength and absorption capacity are also clearly weakening compared to the booming period of 2025.

A customer survey conducted by One Mount Group in Q1 2026 showed that approximately 36% of customers maintained a clear need for real estate – including the "considering" and "preparing to buy" groups, a sharp decrease from 55% in 2025.