People do not dare to borrow money to buy houses, even though interest rates have decreased.

According to experts, interest rates have now returned to a reasonable level. However, due to high housing prices, many people have had to continue to put their dream of owning a home on hold.

At the Forum “For the real estate market to return to health and development” organized by Hanoi Radio and Television, Dr. Can Van Luc, Chief Economist of BIDV, member of the National Financial and Monetary Policy Advisory Council, said that the current interest rate for home loans fluctuates between 8 and 10%. This is a suitable number for long-term loans.

However, according to statistics from the State Bank, by the end of September 2024, consumer real estate credit had only increased by 4.6%. According to Mr. Luc, this increase is still low.

Mr. Can Van Luc believes that the supply-demand relationship needs to move towards a more balanced position to promote the recovery of the real estate market.

“Although interest rates have dropped, few people dare to borrow because house prices are too high. Meanwhile, buyers’ incomes have not increased as expected, and their financial conditions are not enough to buy. Many people are waiting for house prices to decrease or waiting for investors to launch more attractive stimulus policies,” Mr. Luc shared.

The expert from BIDV said that the market is lacking affordable housing products, and supply and demand in this segment are in a state of imbalance. Explaining why real estate prices have continuously reached new peaks in recent times, Mr. Luc said that the reason comes from the increase in construction costs, land costs, etc.

“Many people see real estate brokers as agents who ‘inflate’ real estate prices. However, I think this is only partly true. The reasons for high housing prices come from many sides. Currently, many businesses are setting higher profit margins and there is a phenomenon of price manipulation somewhere,” Mr. Luc questioned.

At the event, Mr. Le Hoang Chau, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association, agreed that the housing product structure is not reasonable. In the largest economic center of the country, from 2021 to now, the housing segment under 3 billion VND has been completely absent from the market. As for social housing, there are only about 12,000 units to date.

“The real estate market is in an inverted pyramid state, leading to unstable and unsustainable development,” said Mr. Chau.

According to Associate Professor Dr. Dinh Trong Thinh, former Head of the International Finance Department, Academy of Finance, market power is currently in the hands of sellers, due to high demand but limited supply of affordable housing. It is very difficult to expect investors to reduce prices of commercial projects.

“The important issue is to increase supply, especially social housing. The government needs to change its approach and have an effective management mechanism to develop this type of housing,” said Mr. Thinh.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/batdongsan/nguoi-dan-khong-dam-vay-mua-nha-du-lai-suat-da-giam-d230203.html