HCMC faces shortfall of 179,000 new apartments: Savills

Ho Chi Minh City aimed to develop approximately 235,000 new housing units for the 2021-2025 period, but only 24% of this target has been achieved, leaving the city short by 179,000 units.

According to Savills Vietnam's Q2 report on HCMC’s residential real estate market, the city has faced a chronic housing supply shortage over the past five years. The widening gap between supply and demand is mainly due to slow approval processes and tightened legal regulations.

In Q2 alone, the southern hub saw the launch of 1,600 new apartments, an increase of 38% year-on-year. However, the primary supply remained limited at 5,400 units, with sales reaching only 2,400 units - a 45% absorption rate. The primary selling price hovered around VND90 million ($3,440) per square meter.

For the first half of 2025, the total primary supply reached 6,800 units, and 3,800 of them were sold.

Looking ahead to 2025-2027, future supply is projected at around 39,000 units. In the long term, positive changes in policy and legal procedures such as streamlined approvals and implementation of new regulations are expected to foster growth in the residential real estate market in HCMC.

Data from the municipal Department of Construction showed that in the first half of this year, the city had only seven projects qualified for future sales, offering a total of 5,556 units, including 4,318 condos and 1,238 low-rise units.

The department acknowledged that housing prices in HCMC are higher than both regional and national averages. The market is dominated by high-end housing, with little to no supply of affordable or low-income housing, making it increasingly difficult for ordinary citizens to access homeownership.

On the developers’ side, legal obstacles related to investment procedures, including issues with land, planning, credit access, and market competition, are causing delays. In addition, the ongoing economic crisis, business restructuring, and capital shortages are all compounding challenges.

Cooling housing prices with new megacity

To help control and reduce housing prices, the Department of Construction emphasizes the need for coordinated efforts among all stakeholders.

One key solution is increasing the supply of housing that matches actual demand, particularly in the social and affordable housing segments, which are currently severely lacking despite high demand.

“Developing these types of housing to compete with expensive commercial properties is also a way to broaden access to the city’s housing stock,” a department representative said.

The city is also working to untangle legal issues to help developers accelerate project progress, thereby increasing supply and reducing upward pressure on prices. Authorities are reviewing and addressing delayed projects to avoid wasting resources and push construction forward.

At the same time, HCMC is expediting administrative procedures and improving transparency. With a comprehensive master plan in place, the city is streamlining processes related to land allocation, leasing, land valuation, and land-use conversion as well as project investment approvals, developer licensing, and construction permits to boost supply.

“Currently, the city needs to offer preferential credit packages to investors developing affordable and social housing. It’s also important to provide low-interest loan options to help middle- and low-income households purchase homes,” the department noted.

The department also believed that with expanded administrative boundaries after HCMC’s merger with Binh Duong and Ba Ria-Vung Tau provinces and increased land availability in the newly restructured city, housing prices are expected to cool.

Improvements in urban infrastructure and transport connectivity with surrounding areas will enable the development of satellite urban areas, expand urban space, and distribute population density, ultimately easing housing demand pressure in the city center and helping bring prices down to more reasonable levels.