Southern developers with sufficient land reserves eye opportunities

Real estate developers in southern Vietnam are facing a range of difficulties, and only those with large areas of land at their disposal may be able to survive.

Big developers

Dai Phuc Real Estate JSC, a Van Phuc Group member, has more than 200 hectares of clean land to develop projects over the next five years and more, said CEO Nguyen Huong. “We’ve accumulated this land over many years,” she said.

In the 1990s, Dai Phuc Real Estate started the process of preparing for the future. The Van Phuc City project in Ho Chi Minh City’s Thu Duc area is a specific example. Having accumulated 198 hectares of land, the firm overcame legal issues and completed infrastructure preparations, and finally began construction in 2014.

At present, legal issues are a tough problem facing the market but the company, with its large land reserves, still has new products in the pipeline such as townhouses, high-class villas, and high-end apartments.

Dai Phuc Real Estate in 2019 bought nearly 60 hectares of land on Pham Hung street, Binh Chanh district, HCMC, Huong said. “Currently, we have completed the legal process and are working on infrastructure. It will be introduced to the market this year.”

She added: “We have enough land to last for the next 15 years.”

Similarly, Phu Dong Real Estate JSC owns hundreds of hectares of land in HCMC and neighboring Binh Duong province. Phu Dong CEO Ngo Quang Phuc said his firm had continuously acquired land over the past three years, buying little by little to enlarge its reserves.

“We’ve bought small plots, from 5,000 square meters. We’ve also bought much bigger ones, up to dozens of hectares,” said Phuc.

“For small ones, it was easy for us to complete legal issues. and to start work on new projects. Every year we’ve got new projects on the market.

“In Ho Chi Minh City, we have dozens of hectares of land in District 8, Binh Thanh district, District 1, and District 12. In Binh Duong, we also have dozens of hectares mainly in Di An town. We will launch two projects this year. We’re also completing legal work for the new plots we have acquired.”

Novaland also has a large land bank. Its chairman Bui Xuan Huy said his company holds 10,600 hectares of land now, doubling the size it reported a year ago.

Phat Dat Real Estate Investment JSC is also a member of the club. As of the end of 2021, the total size was 5,804 hectares, increasing by 12 times compared to 2020, according to the firm.

Hung Thinh Group currently has 4,500 hectares of land across HCMC, Hanoi, and the provinces of Binh Dinh, Khanh Hoa, Binh Thuan, Lam Dong, Dong Nai, Binh Duong, and Ba Ria - Vung Tau.

Dat Xanh Group recently revealed that its land reserves cover about 2,500 hectares. A Dat Xanh representative said the developer is seeking to expand the size as it is embracing a strategy of developing urban areas combined with industrial parks over large areas.

Opportunities out there

In 2022, Vietnam’s real estate market faced many difficulties in project development, while developers with delayed projects experienced serious cashflow problems.

Under these circumstance, companies with large land reserves took advantage of their strength. Two popular approaches were to sell off some land to raise money to invest in new projects; or to partner with firms that had investment capital but not enough land to implement new projects.

Last November, Phat Dat Group offered to sell land in the Ho Tram area in the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau. The firm then announced that the plot was acquired by a foreign company for VN1.8 trillion ($76.75 million). The plot’s area was not mentioned.

Phat Dat also sold a plot of more than five hectares in Binh Duong last year. The proceeds will be used to develop projects in Ho Tram and HCMC this year, the firm said.

Vo Hong Thang, deputy director of market research, DKRA Group, said H.T. Corp. is now offering a large amount of land in HCMC to raise money for other projects. He said H.T. wants to sell 18 of its 80 plots and use the proceeds for projects in Binh Dinh, Vung Tau, and HCMC.

Phu Dong CEO Ngo Quang Phuc said residential demand would continue to increase, therefore developers with clean sites hold many advantages.

HCMC Real Estate Association chairman Le Hoang Chau said it is a positive trend that property companies are joining hands to take advantage of each other’s resources. This will fuel the market.

He added when Vietnamese and foreign companies join hands, this cooperation will help the domestic market reach new heights, not merely solve the question of land.

However, holding large land reserves can also be risky for developers because of higher costs and liquidity risks, Chau said.