Foreign investors keen on Vietnamese real estate

In the eyes of foreign investors, Vietnam's real estate market still has ample room to develop, as shown by the nearly $1.98 billion in investment capital registered by the group in the first five months of 2024, a year-on-year increase of 70.8%.

Real estate ranked second in attracting registered FDI during the period, accounting for 17.9% of the total, only after the manufacturing and processing industry, which made up 67.1% with $7.43 billion.

According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, in the year to May 20, the total registered FDI capital, which includes capital for newly registered projects, additional capital for existing projects and capital contributions//acquisition deals, reached more than $11.07 billion, up 2% year-on-year.

Matthew Powell, director of property consultant Savills Hanoi, said that despite many challenges, Vietnam is still an attractive investment destination for corporate real estate investors. Demand from investors, especially in the Asian region, is very large. For example, Singapore, South Korea, and Japan are paying special heed to operating commercial properties as well as residential projects.

Besides, Vietnam's advantages lie in its population, urbanization rate, and economic growth rate, leaving it a lot of room to develop, he noted.

According to Powell, the ups and downs of the trade cycle will impact Vietnam, but in the long term, investors are still highly interested in all fields, including the real estate market. "Some investors are looking at data centers while others are focusing on logistics, industrial parks, and warehouses."

There have been a number of transactions recorded in the housing sector with Singaporean investors, he said.

It may be difficult to complete real estate transactions in Vietnam, but the demand is still there, Powell stressed, noting that spending a lot of time to cooperate with real estate investors and sellers, Savills maintains its optimism about and confidence in Vietnam's investment potential.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Van Dinh, chairman of the Vietnam Association of Realtors (VARS), said that the country's real estate market is gradually recovering and about to enter a new development cycle.

Therefore, this will be a potential market for many domestic and foreign investors, he noted.

"In the context of stock fluctuations, continuously increasing gold prices, and savings interest rates at their lowest level, real estate is a promising investment channel. For foreign investors, office rental and industrial real estate are the segments that are drawing the most attention," Dinh added.