Housing price problem

It is very difficult to expect apartment prices to drop sharply because supply cannot be improved immediately while the need to own a house is always present among the people, especially in big cities.

Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Realtors (VARS) Nguyen Van Dinh also expressed that the reason for the rapid increase in apartment prices has been mentioned many times because the supply of apartments in Hanoi is really scarce.

The number of approved and implemented projects has been increasingly limited in recent years, the number of projects eligible for sale is small, while the demand of customers, especially young families who want to own a house, is still very high.

Not only people with real housing needs, investors also have the mentality that prices will continue to rise, so they continue to hunt for real estate investments. Through many times of buying and selling, the later person must make more profit than the previous person, causing the housing price to only increase, not decrease. When people with real housing needs can access an apartment, the price is already high.

Discussing this issue, Professor Dang Hung Vo - former Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment said that currently there is a shortage of real estate, especially in the Hanoi market. This phenomenon has lasted from 2018 until now, so the rapid increase in apartment prices is partly due to the real supply-demand relationship of the market.

However, the price increase regardless of the market rules is something that needs attention. According to the expert, there is still a phenomenon of brokers pushing up prices, spreading false information about projects, creating anxiety about prices continuing to increase in the context of scarce supply, causing a strong impact on the market.

The expert even frankly pointed out that there are groups of people hired to push up real estate prices by calling to offer to buy and sell old apartments at high prices, from which gradually a stream of information about increasing house prices is formed, and brokers cling to that information to push up the prices of both old and new real estate to unrealistically high levels.

To deal with this situation, Mr. Dang Hung Vo confided that it is extremely difficult for the management agency.

Because in reality, although everyone knows what “price inflation” and “price gouging” are, it is difficult to give a specific concept. Because it is impossible to name them, it is also impossible to put the above violations into law for strong handling.

In May 2024, facing the rapid increase in apartment prices, the Ministry of Construction identified a phenomenon of pushing up apartment prices and requested the Hanoi People's Committee to inspect and review real estate business transactions in the area.

Thereby, implementing measures to rectify and handle acts of price inflation, price manipulation, speculation and violations of real estate business laws, if any... However, according to Mr. Vo, this action is only "shaking the tree to scare the monkeys" and has not solved the core problem.

However, we must frankly admit that the increase in housing prices in big cities is an inevitable rule, when the population increases, the demand for housing is high while the land area is increasingly narrowing.

However, the current growth is showing many unusual signs, the development of this market still has many hidden corners, dark spots, lack of transparency, and unrealistic increase in real estate prices that make it impossible for people to access.

VARS Chairman Nguyen Van Dinh said that this is a time when the State needs to intervene in inspecting, supervising and strictly handling violations in the real estate market.

Over the past years, the situation of people lacking and people having too much housing and land has become increasingly serious. Mr. Dang Hung Vo expressed the opinion that tax policies should be used to regulate those who occupy and speculate on land; and that people with many houses and land speculators should be taxed early to eliminate the phenomenon of price speculation that makes it difficult for ordinary workers to buy because of unreasonable price increases.

Accordingly, Mr. Vo highly appreciated the fact that the Ministry of Finance is researching and developing a draft Law on Real Estate Tax, including research on taxes on second homes, taxes on vacant houses and land, ensuring compliance with Vietnam's socio-economic conditions, international practices, ensuring consistency of the tax policy system related to real estate and placing it within the overall Strategy for reforming the tax policy system until 2030.

In addition, the Land Law, which will be applied in practice from July 1, is also expected by the expert to cool down real estate prices and release supply when there are new, more specific and clear regulations, helping to untie the real estate supply in Hanoi in particular and in the market in general.

Looking at the issue from another perspective, Deputy General Director of Batdongsan.com.vn Nguyen Quoc Anh recommended that investors and real estate buyers and sellers should spend more time observing market developments in the upcoming period, when demand is about to reach the "resistance point".

Accordingly, Mr. Quoc Anh expressed concern that when the revised Law on Real Estate Business comes into effect, the number of investors meeting the requirements to implement projects will decrease, and supply will be more difficult to expand.

Source: https://www.nguoiduatin.vn/e-bat-mach-ke-don-van-nan-gia-nha-leo-cao-phi-thuc-te-a670969.html