Small salary increases, chasing skyrocketing housing prices: Young people struggle to buy houses in Hanoi

Minh Anh (from Nam Dinh) has been working in Hanoi for 7 years now, right after graduating from university, with a starting salary of 6.5 million VND/month. For a long time, she has always cherished the dream of having her own house to settle down in the capital, convenient for her long-term career. In 2016, the first opportunity to buy a house in Hanoi came to Minh Anh.

At that time, a colleague introduced her to an apartment in Xuan Dinh (Bac Tu Liem district), not far from Thang Long bridge. The house was about 40 square meters wide with one bedroom and one living room, priced at 400 million VND.

After much hesitation, Minh Anh finally decided not to buy that house and waited for a better opportunity. Unexpectedly, that was also the only chance for her to realize her dream of buying a house in Hanoi: “ At that time, I had about 320 million VND, just a little short of enough money, but I hesitated, not wanting to buy right away because the house was in a small alley, the area was a bit cramped, I was also afraid of having to borrow from the bank and pay interest every month. But it is true that if I had known that the price of houses in Hanoi increased so quickly, I would have put all those thoughts aside and decided to buy. I kept thinking that after a while of saving enough money, it would not be too late to buy, but who would have thought that the price of houses would increase more and more, making the money saved from my salary not worth it at all ", Minh Anh recounted.

After getting married, Minh Anh continued to save and determined to buy a new house with full amenities, a little closer to the center of Hanoi so that her family would have a place to live. But for many years, every time she and her husband saved a little more money, the house price increased to a new level, even far away. Minh Anh's dream house therefore became more and more out of reach.

Currently, although Minh Anh's income has increased to nearly 13 million VND/month, along with her husband's income, the amount of money saved for buying a house has also increased, but paradoxically, the increased money still cannot buy a house. " Currently, my family's savings for buying a house are about 800 million VND, including principal and interest. But the house price has now increased many times compared to before, how can I reach it? If the price keeps increasing like that, we are worried that we will not be able to buy a house in Hanoi. Both paternal and maternal families in the countryside are poor and cannot support much, we also cannot borrow too much from the bank, because there is pressure to pay off the debt, while our income is limited ," Minh Anh lamented.

At present, a two-bedroom apartment in Hanoi (not yet in the central district) costs up to 2 - 2.5 billion VND. Minh Anh's family's savings are still far from enough to buy it. " Even the apartment that I intended to buy in 2016, now nearly ten years old, has still increased in price to 1.4 billion VND. I am really shocked! Nearly 10 years have passed, although my income has increased, my savings have also increased a bit, but I still cannot buy the old house that I almost bought before, " Minh Anh said in surprise.

Apartment prices in Hanoi have been steadily increasing, making it increasingly difficult for young people to buy. (Illustration photo)

Nhat Hoang, a software engineer living and working in Hanoi, also calculated: "A normal apartment in Hanoi currently costs 2-3 billion VND. With a salary of about 20 million VND/month, minus living expenses, I have to save for 12-15 years to buy a house at the current price. But if this trend continues, house prices will certainly not stand still, and in 15 years they will probably have increased many times, while the salary can only increase slightly, even depending on the stability and development of the company where I work."

Nhat Hoang added: " I have tried to save every penny and limit unnecessary spending, but housing prices in Hanoi have increased too quickly. Every time I consider buying a house, the price has increased a few more levels, making me feel like I am racing against an invisible opponent and can never win ."

Mr. Hoang also jokingly compared that salary increases only at the speed of motorbikes, while house prices increase at the speed of cars, even supercars.

According to reports from many real estate organizations, house prices in Hanoi have increased every year over the past decade. This makes buying a house increasingly difficult, especially for young people with average incomes.

In this context, most young people have had to choose to rent a house instead of buying one. Minh Anh is no exception. She rents a small apartment in the suburbs for 5 million VND/month. As for Nhat Hoang, because he wants to be close to his company, he rents an apartment near the city center for 9 million VND/month. However, both are always worried because the rent is constantly increasing and shows no sign of stopping.

Meanwhile, some others have chosen to borrow from banks to try to make their dream of settling down in Hanoi come true. In return, they have to struggle to face high interest rates, the pressure of monthly debt repayments, and increasingly expensive expenses, making their income, even if it increases, become "dripping".

Cong Hieu

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