Harmonizing interests in the real estate market, easy becomes difficult (Last article): Need for macro policies

The real estate market near the AEON MALL Commercial Center Project in Quang Thanh Ward ( Thanh Hoa City) is quite active. Photo: Dong Thanh

Many potential risks

It is not difficult to point out the reason for the paradox that the number of planning sites successfully auctioned for land use rights (LURCs) is increasing and always reaching higher than the starting price, but the occupancy rate is not high, thousands of residential plots are still abandoned. According to Mr. Nguyen Manh Tuan, Head of the Department of Housing Management and Real Estate Market (Department of Construction), the main reason is that the demand for budget revenue from LURC auctions is very large, while the demand for buying land for storage and profit is at a very high level among a segment of the population...

Meanwhile, positive information from the economic recovery and many projects being implemented in the area continue to "inflate" land prices in the auctioned sites. Therefore, it is understandable that many people believe that thousands of residential land lots of 892 sites approved by the Provincial People's Committee to be auctioned in the near future - will have higher auction prices than the average price in 2024.

From an economic perspective, the winning price of the later auctions is often higher than the previous auctions, or the resale of land use rights after the auction is very normal, in accordance with market rules when real estate is a commodity. And the need for revenue for the State budget from land use rights auctions to reinvest in developing infrastructure is also legitimate. However, the situation of thousands of vacant residential land plots is a huge waste. Meanwhile, there are still many low-income households, workers, and laborers who are still having difficulty with land and housing. This is a significant social issue, closely related to the economic perspective. And the continuous increase in land prices also makes it difficult for many localities to attract large domestic and foreign corporations and enterprises to pay attention and research to invest in construction and projects.

Hard to have it both ways

To solve this problem, Mr. Le Cao Quy, Deputy Head of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Thieu Hoa district, said: "To both ensure revenue for the budget and limit the waste of residential land in planning areas, the State needs to specify the time to complete housing construction after the land lot has a decision to win the auction, as a basis for strict handling of violations. This method not only achieves the above two goals but also does not negatively affect the real estate market."

Discussing this issue, Head of the Department of Housing and Real Estate Market Management (Department of Construction) Nguyen Manh Tuan said: "First of all, localities in the province need to implement housing development programs and plans approved by competent authorities. At the same time, strengthen management, direction, and urge to accelerate the progress of housing construction investment projects according to approved plans, including commercial housing and social housing. Disclose widely information about projects; publicly and transparently conduct land use rights auctions to prevent negative phenomena in the real estate market, such as spreading rumors, speculating to "inflate" prices for profit, causing imbalances in supply and demand, and inflating real estate bubbles...".

It must also be recognized that the shortcomings and negative aspects of the real estate market are not new and not unique to Thanh Hoa. To overcome this situation, there needs to be macro policies that go beyond the scope of a locality. Many economic experts have stated that the Government needs to have appropriate tax policies to limit the situation of hoarding real estate for too long, causing waste of resources. Not only stopping at personal opinions, in 2024, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (now the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment) officially sent a document requesting the Ministry of Finance to consider, research and develop regulations on applying a second real estate tax.

This is completely reasonable when people who own houses or land plots on the second or more often have high incomes and are able to pay taxes. Meanwhile, the State has also implemented regulations on personal income tax, in order to ensure fairness and prevent the increasing polarization between rich and poor in society, as well as increase revenue for the budget. And the imposition of taxes should not only stop at real estate but also apply to high-value assets such as ships, yachts, etc.

In the current context, along with the negative aspects of the real estate market, the proposal to impose taxes on second and more properties is being supported by many people. However, the level and method of imposing taxes so as not to lose the vitality of the real estate market is a long story...

While waiting for macro and strategic decisions, not only in Thanh Hoa, but throughout the country, prime land continues to be abandoned and many people with real needs for residential land can only look up and sigh.

Dong Thanh

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/hai-hoa-loi-ich-o-thi-truong-bat-dong-san-chuyen-de-hoa-kho-bai-cuoi-can-chinh-sach-vi-mo-248422.htm