The price increase for villas and townhouses on the outskirts of Hanoi is only being talked about by real estate agents.

Brokers collude to artificially inflate prices.

Looking to buy a villa or townhouse in western Hanoi , Ms. Thuy Hong (39 years old, residing in Cau Giay District, Hanoi) was constantly approached by real estate agents offering properties for sale at a loss. At the end of August, an agent offered her a 240 ^m² villa in the Geleximco New Urban Area project (Le Trong Tan Street, Hoai Duc District) for 16.5 billion VND. However, after agreeing on the price and preparing the deposit documents, the agent informed her that the owner was not in a hurry to sell and that if she wanted to buy, she would have to pay a higher price.

Villas in the Geleximco urban area

Nearly a month later, Ms. Hong still saw advertisements for the same villa for sale on various real estate classifieds platforms. "The asking prices were quite inconsistent, some listed it at 17 billion VND, others at 17.5 billion VND, but all were higher than the price I had agreed to pay," Ms. Hong recounted.

Upon investigation, Ms. Hong learned that the brokerage group had "secured" the aforementioned villa, and she had been exploited as a "measure" of demand. Meanwhile, some brokers also admitted to having fallen into the same trap of "greed" when they invested in properties only to find themselves "stuck" with unsold units.

Hoang Ngoc Phuong (35 years old), a real estate broker currently stuck with a townhouse in the Nam An Khanh Urban Area project (Hoai Duc District), said he just learned a painful lesson, a case of the biter bitten because of the same trick.

Specifically, last June, they saw someone advertising a 210 ^m² townhouse for sale at 18.5 billion VND, with 3-4 interested buyers. One person even offered 18 billion VND, so Phuong's group thought the market was starting to warm up.

Townhouses in the Nam An Khanh Urban Area project

"We pooled our money to buy that house for 18.1 billion VND and then put it up for sale for 19.5 billion VND. But we haven't been able to sell it for the past few months. Some people in our group had to borrow money to invest and are now struggling to pay the interest. After investigating, we found out that the person who offered 18 billion VND was actually a relative of the homeowner. They tricked us into buying it so they could 'get rid' of it. Now we want to sell it for 17.8 billion VND, but no one is interested," Mr. Phuong said.

Is the market warming up at the "mouth of the crane"?

In reality, the real estate market for villas and townhouses seems to be only warming up superficially. Recently, the stock market experienced a sharp correction as the State Bank withdrew money from circulation and foreign exchange rates increased. Seeing an opportunity to buy at the bottom of the market, Mr. Bui Van Truong (39 years old, residing in Thanh Xuan District, Hanoi) urgently put his townhouse in the Hinode Royal Park project (Hoai Duc District, Hanoi) up for sale for 8 billion VND.

The Hinode Royal Park project, located along National Highway 32 in Hoai Duc District, features a large number of townhouses.

"I've been advertising for over two weeks and not a single buyer has inquired. Real estate agents keep urging me to lower the price to below 7 billion VND in order to find a buyer. Just browsing online makes it very difficult to tell the difference between real and inflated prices. Only those who own property to sell truly understand how difficult the market is," Mr. Truong said with frustration.

According to a survey by Thanh Nien newspaper , many banks are also taking steps to lower interest rates on personal and consumer loans. Some banks are applying interest rates below 8% per year for certain personal loans. However, lending conditions have not been relaxed.

For example, a real estate loan at a state-owned commercial bank is advertised with an interest rate of 8% per year. After the grace period, borrowers are subject to a new interest rate: the base interest rate plus a margin of 3.5-4% per year, resulting in a lending interest rate exceeding 10% per year. In addition, banks continue to tighten the conditions and procedures for customers.

Customers buying villas and townhouses in some urban development projects in western Hanoi need to be wary of tricks used by real estate brokers.

Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh, Chairman of the Vietnam Real Estate Brokers Association, said that the market has not shown many signs of warming up. In the secondary market, with the majority of buyers having a genuine need for housing, it is difficult to create a "boom" in the current context.

According to Mr. Dinh, the real estate market still faces legal, financial, and bond issues, so some brokers are still spreading misinformation to create panic and disrupt the market for personal gain. Authorities and law enforcement agencies in localities need to implement strict control measures.

In the long term, to help people with genuine housing needs access housing more easily, the government needs to boost the supply of new housing to the market, especially social housing, to create liquidity. This will both stimulate the real estate market, contribute to economic recovery, and establish a lower price level than the current one.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/gia-biet-thu-lien-ke-ven-ha-noi-chi-tang-o-mieng-co-185231008163136397.htm