Interest rates are low, should we "put down money" to buy real estate now?

(NLDO) – Real estate prices are forecast to be difficult to decrease, low interest rates are only fixed in the beginning and then float, so borrowers need to consider their cash flow to repay the debt.

According to the State Bank, up to now, 9 commercial banks have implemented preferential credit packages worth thousands of billions of VND in home loans for young people. Banks such as ACB, SHB, HDBank, LPBank, Eximbank, VPBank... are offering preferential credit packages with interest rates from 3.88% to 5.5%/year applied in the first 3 months; or interest rates from 6.5% to 7.5%/year applied in the first year. In addition to preferential interest rates, banks also support principal grace periods for the first few years.

Mr. Hoang Nam (living in Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City) said that he has about 2 billion VND in idle money. Because he saw that banks have many preferential credit packages with low interest rates, he plans to borrow about 1.5-2 billion VND more to invest in buying real estate (land or apartments for rent).

"However, after careful research, most banks only offer incentives in the beginning. After that, the floating interest rate follows the market at about 9-10%/year or higher, which makes me hesitant, even though real estate prices are forecasted to be unlikely to decrease," Mr. Nam wondered.

Talking to a reporter from Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper about whether to "put down money" to borrow credit to buy real estate when banks launch a series of low-interest credit packages, Mr. Bach Ta, Director of Capital Markets, JLL Vietnam, said that real estate buyers at this time need to pay attention to a number of factors such as buying to live, rent or invest? Because the current low interest rates are usually only fixed for a period of time, then will return to floating interest rates. Customers need to balance their own financial needs and debt repayment cash flow.

"Loan interest rates are low, banks still have many loan limits, so if investors evaluate the project as potential and have good legal status, they can consider borrowing to buy," said Mr. Bach Ta.

Apartment prices in many apartment buildings in Ho Chi Minh City have been increasing recently.

The report "Vietnam Real Estate Market Outlook 2025" by JLL Vietnam (specializing in real estate management and investment) shows that real estate is on the rise again thanks to improved investor sentiment, reduced borrowing costs, and increased transaction activity in key segments.

Ms. Trang Le, General Director of JLL Vietnam, commented that the real estate market in 2025 is showing many positive signs after a period of low interest rates, infrastructure was boosted last year and a series of laws related to the real estate market were amended. This year, with the economic growth target of 8%, the urbanization rate increased, a series of projects are expected to continue to remove obstacles to help the market become more vibrant.

"However, the real estate market still lacks supply and high investment costs when applying the new land price framework, which is expected to cause selling prices and rental prices to increase sharply in the short term. At this time, legal solutions are necessary for the market to recover and grow sustainably," said Ms. Trang Le.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/lai-vay-xuong-thap-co-nen-xuong-tien-mua-nha-dat-luc-nay-196250319223001014.htm