It takes 20-25 years of income to buy a house, young people crave long-term preferential credit packages

To buy a 70m2 apartment, priced at 3-4 billion VND in big cities, young people need 20-25 years of income. This figure shows that the housing price/income ratio in Vietnam is very high, meaning it is very difficult to access.

Le Thanh An Lac social housing area (Binh Tan district, Ho Chi Minh City).

Credit is being directed toward affordable housing.

Speaking at the seminar "Effective Financial Leverage - Housing Opportunities for Young People" on the morning of June 26th, Ms. Ha Thu Giang, Director of the Department of Credit for Economic Sectors (State Bank of Vietnam), said that the banking sector is implementing many solutions to prioritize credit capital and simultaneously implement solutions to help young people own homes.

"Credit flows are being directed towards the affordable housing segment," Ms. Giang said.

Regarding the 145,000 billion VND social housing credit package with 9 participating banks, Ms. Giang stated that the current lending interest rate is 5.9% per year, 1.5-2% lower than the usual interest rate. For young people under 35, the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) is implementing a preferential interest rate policy, with rates 2% lower for the first 5 years and 1% lower for the next 10 years compared to the average medium- and long-term interest rates of major banks.

Despite more positive results than before, the amount of capital disbursed for these programs is still limited. According to the State Bank of Vietnam, the reason is that the market has few projects with prices suitable for the affordability of these target groups.

Young people have been craving preferential credit packages for a long time.

According to Mr. Ha Quang Hung, Deputy Director of the Department of Housing and Real Estate Market Management ( Ministry of Construction ), recent real estate market surveys show that young people (around 22-40 years old) are becoming the main customer group in the housing market, gradually replacing the middle-aged group.

“The demand for home ownership among young people in Vietnam is at an unprecedented high, both in terms of quantity and proportion within the home buyer structure. However, people's incomes have not kept pace with the rising cost of housing, leading to very limited real-world affordability for most young people. To buy an average house (70m2, priced at 3-4 billion VND) in major cities, young people need 20-25 years of income. This figure shows that the house price/income ratio in Vietnam is very high (very difficult to access),” Mr. Hung said.

In reality, most young urban couples with average incomes of 20-30 million VND/month have to rent a house or live with family. Very few have enough savings to buy a commercial house by the age of 30 without financial support from family or preferential credit programs.

Analyzing the obstacles, Mr. Hung stated that the supply of real estate is limited and prices are high compared to the affordability of the vast majority of people, including young people.

According to representatives from the Ministry of Construction, young people face difficulties in owning homes due to personal financial and credit barriers. Although banks are willing to provide home loans, commercial loan interest rates remain quite high, and loan terms are not long enough to meet demand. Only with preferential packages offering low interest rates (5-6%) fixed for long periods (20-30 years) will young people feel confident enough to consider borrowing to buy a home.

To address the current supply-demand imbalance, Mr. Ha Quang Hung believes the first solution is to increase the supply of housing. To achieve this, it is necessary to review and improve the institutions and laws related to housing and the real estate market, ensuring consistency, uniformity, and feasibility.

In addition, it is necessary to effectively implement Decree No. 75/2025/ND-CP, a government decree detailing the implementation of Resolution No. 171/2024/QH15 on piloting commercial housing projects through agreements on land use rights or existing land use rights.

Mr. Ha Quang Hung, Deputy Director of the Department of Housing and Real Estate Market Management (Ministry of Construction).

Regarding social housing, Mr. Hung noted that the National Assembly has passed Resolution No. 201/2025/QH15, which pilots a number of specific mechanisms and policies for the development of social housing, effective from June 1, 2025, adjusting policies towards greater flexibility and accessibility.

According to him, localities need to implement and complete the targets for social housing development as stipulated in Decision No. 444/QD-TTg dated February 27, 2025, of the Prime Minister, and develop worker accommodation in industrial zones and housing for the armed forces.

Another important solution that Mr. Hung emphasized is the development of long-term lease and lease-purchase models.

Regarding finance, Mr. Ha Quang Hung suggested increasing the personal income tax deduction for dependents and allowing the deduction of a portion of interest on first-time home loans from taxable income to encourage young people to buy houses.

In addition, research is being conducted on a housing savings fund model, allowing workers to contribute a portion of their monthly salary to a fund to qualify for preferential interest rates on home loans, or rewarding young people who accumulate a certain amount into their housing savings account.

Finally, it is necessary to improve access to credit and implement long-term preferential loan packages. Sufficient and timely allocation of preferential loan capital from the central budget to the Social Policy Bank is needed for preferential loans to purchase or lease-purchase social housing; accelerate the disbursement of the 145,000 billion VND credit program, and consider extending the loan term and the preferential loan period.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/mat-20-25-nam-thu-nhap-moi-mua-duoc-nha-nguoi-tre-khat-goi-tin-dung-uu-dai-dai-han-d314574.html