HCM CityHouses for rent to live in still have a positive occupancy rate of 65% or more, in contrast, townhouses in front are very empty of tenants and vacant.
Notes of VnExpress shows that from the beginning of the second quarter to May 21, the rental housing market in Ho Chi Minh City is strongly diverging into two halves of light and dark. Specifically, houses for rent in the segment of less than 5 million VND per month, 3,5 km or more from the center, serving the majority of students and workers with average incomes (under 10 million VND per month). get 12-90% occupancy rate. The segment of houses for rent costing 95-3,5 million VND a month, 5-3 km from the center, serving workers with good income (from 6-13 million VND a month) also reached the occupancy rate. 20-85%.
For the segment of houses for rent with prices over VND 5-7 million a month, there are signs of slight fluctuations with the occupancy rate reaching 80%, for every six-month or one-year contract maturity, there are 20 -30% of the number of tenants check out, must find new guests. Houses for rent cost 8-15 million VND a month or more, the occupancy rate is reduced to 70-75%, guests often check out. The segment of rental housing priced at $1.000 a month or more has a weaker occupancy rate, reaching 65-70%, but remains positive.
Contrary to the ideal occupancy rate of rental houses, townhouses with frontage for rent in the central area of Ho Chi Minh City are quite bleak and vacant. From April to now, go along Ngo Duc Ke, Ho Tung Mau, Ly Tu Trong, Hai Ba Trung streets, Nguyen Trai fashion street, Bui Vien West street (District 4), townhouses that once did business. crowded, now vacant in series.
The situation of many brands withdrawing also took place around the roundabout area of Notre Dame Cathedral - City Post Office. Mellower Coffee, located at the Metropolitan building, closed at the end of April. Recently, eDiGi, Apple's authorized premium retail store (APR) in the Vietnamese market, belongs to the business system of billionaire Jonathan. Hanh Nguyen, located adjacent to the City Post Office, also pays the premises. Nearby, Cafe Saigon La Poste has moved and currently has no new tenants. Close to the book street, McDonald's has been withdrawn for a long time, but this space is still vacant.
Previously, the facades of townhouses in the central core of District 1 were rented by big brands, small and medium-sized enterprises or individual business units, but now old tenants leave one after another. not yet arrived, causing the vacancy rate to increase.
Townhouse for rent in front of Le Loi street, district 1, HCMC. Image: Quynh Tran
Considering the above developments, Mr. Le Quoc Kien, an independent real estate expert, assessed that the rental housing market is divided into two distinct halves, bright and dark. Mid-morning is affordable or affordable residential real estate, belongs to the group of consumer real estate, can be classified as essential needs, has maintained a good occupancy rate since the post-pandemic recovery now. However, townhouses with frontage for rent as offices or business premises in the central area, typically District 1, are under pressure when demand declines and the economy is difficult.
Mr. Kien analyzed that, during the 2020-2021 epidemic period, almost all business activities that need to use premises have to close and downsize. From the second quarter of 2, the gradual reopening of business activities has just begun, the search for premises has become active again.
However, the negative effects have been delayed from the epidemic, besides inflation, war, the specter of a global recession, the economy has begun to take a hit: global consumers tighten spending, activity The production and business of enterprises are still facing many difficulties and cannot be recovered as in the pre-epidemic period. Therefore, the demand for renting offices and business premises is still low, which is the reason why many townhouses in the central area are currently vacant.
According to Mr. Kien, right from the beginning of the year, the economy revealed many difficulties and challenges, businesses tended to be "manual" rather than "public", prioritizing cost reduction and inefficient business segments.
Business activities are not stable, enterprises will tend to gradually shift from "fixed costs" to "variable costs". For example, instead of renting a fixed office or business premises, the fixed scale is narrowed down, switching to a flexible working model that does not depend too much on the premises.
Instead of renting business premises, offline point of sale, whether a business succeeds or fails, it still costs fixed costs, tenants gradually switch to cost-saving business forms. Accordingly, they only incur costs when they have revenue such as: the cost of placing online orders, the cost of promotion for delivery orders that do not use the on-site premises, the cost of paying intermediaries to sell. goods (agents, e-commerce sites) when the goods are sold
In addition, the rapid change in consumption behavior of consumers during the epidemic, the gradual shift of offline buying and selling transactions at stores to online also reduces the position and demand of the premises for townhouses. central frontage.
Mr. Kien also said that one of the reasons why many townhouses with rental facades are now deserted is because most of the landlords who own the premises are those with strong financial potential. This rental income is not necessarily vital to them. Besides, they are also people with very large egos who do not like the feeling of being forced to rent. Therefore, when being bargained for a lower price than before, the landlord would rather leave the premises empty.
In contrast, in the affordable or mid-end housing segment, landlords are easier to negotiate and negotiate prices, and rents are also moderate, supply and demand meet, so the vacancy rate is low.
Vu Le
