Which "big guy" is leading the race in real estate lending?

Real estate credit is likely to continue to increase in the second half of the year, especially when interest rates remain low, along with preferential loan packages for young people...

Real estate credit is likely to continue to increase in the second half of the year, especially when interest rates remain low, along with preferential loan packages for young people being implemented. However, to ensure sustainable market development and avoid putting pressure on the financial system, banks need to tighten capital flow management, avoiding hot growth leading to credit risks.

Real estate credit accelerates

The financial report for the second quarter of 2025 partly revealed a vibrant picture of real estate credit in the banking system. In the first 6 months of the year, many banks recorded positive loan growth, even reaching double digits such as Techcombank, MB, VPBank, HDBank,ACB , LPBank...

Notably, Techcombank is currently leading in real estate lending, with about 64.17% of total outstanding credit including both businesses and individual customers. In the individual customer segment, the majority of which is home loans, accounting for 72% and increasing by 24% over the same period. Techcombank's total real estate loans by the end of the second quarter of 2025 exceeded VND 227,450 billion.

At HDBank , outstanding loans for the real estate business sector reached more than VND83,125 billion, up 21% in just half a year. This is part of the strategy to boost lending in the context of the market showing signs of recovery.

In addition, HDBank also focused capital on the construction sector (VND 60,600 billion) and traditional industries such as retail and vehicle repair (VND 93,192 billion), a sharp increase compared to the beginning of the year.

MB also recorded an increase of nearly VND20,000 billion in real estate loans, raising the total outstanding debt in this sector to VND85,534 billion, accounting for nearly 10% of the credit portfolio.

SHB is another prominent name, with outstanding loans for real estate business reaching VND163,754 billion at the end of the second quarter, up 28.4% compared to the beginning of the year.

According to data from the State Bank, by June 30, 2025, the total outstanding debt of the entire system reached over VND 17.2 million billion, an increase of about 10% compared to the end of 2024. Of which, real estate outstanding debt accounted for about VND 3.18 million billion, equivalent to 18.5% of total outstanding debt, 2.4 times higher than the end of the previous year. Notably, credit serving real estate business activities reached VND 1.65 million billion, accounting for 52% of total real estate outstanding debt, increasing sharply in both speed and scale.

Analysts say that if this year's credit growth reaches the target of 16% and the proportion of outstanding real estate debt continues to fluctuate around 20%, the credit scale of this sector could reach 3.8 - 3.9 million billion VND by the end of the year.

To ensure sustainable market development and avoid putting pressure on the financial system, banks need to tighten capital flow management to avoid hot growth leading to credit risks.

Real estate credit increases sharply but still has potential risks

According to experts, the increase in real estate credit is consistent with the market recovery trend, although the recovery is uneven. Banks are actively injecting capital in the context of many projects restarting, supply improving and home loan interest rates remaining low.

However, house prices are still high compared to people's income, making many people hesitant to borrow money. This is one of the barriers that prevents the demand for home loans from breaking through strongly.

Figures from the State Bank show that as of May 31, 2025, outstanding real estate credit reached more than VND1.64 trillion, up 36% over the same period last year. Notably, credit poured into areas such as hotels, restaurants, land use rights purchases, etc. all increased, while credit for construction and home repair for sale or re-lease decreased slightly.

Faced with this situation, experts recommend that credit should be directed to segments with real demand, such as social housing and affordable housing, to limit the risk of bad debt and speculation. At the same time, banks with a high proportion of real estate loans should be closely monitored to ensure credit quality.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc, founder of Sen Vang Group, said that capital is currently flowing mainly into three groups: real estate near transport infrastructure, industrial real estate and projects with clear legal status. Meanwhile, land and resorts have almost no access to loans.

Dr. Nguyen Tri Hieu commented that real estate and infrastructure will be the two main drivers of credit growth in the second half of 2025 and 2026. According to him, banks will prioritize lending to projects related to public transport such as metro, belt, satellite areas, etc.

However, Mr. Hieu warned that if real estate credit accounts for too large a proportion, it will reduce resources for priority economic development sectors. Therefore, it is necessary to diversify the credit portfolio, strictly control loans and ensure capital safety.

Source: https://baolamdong.vn/ong-lon-nao-dang-dan-dau-cuoc-dua-cho-vay-bat-dong-san-386335.html