Vietnam PM asks developers for reasonable housing prices

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has required realty developers to adjust their product structures and offer more reasonable prices to the public, as well as to invest more in the development of social housing and houses for workers with prices suited to people's income.

The requirements are part of a document he signed Monday to request more government and corporate efforts to remove obstacles in the ailing real estate market so that it can recover in the time to come.

For an average income person living in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s southern economic hub, 19-24 years of savings is needed to be able to buy an apartment priced in the range of VND2.5-3.5 billion ($106,300-$149,000), according to the latest market data by Batdongsan.com.vn, a key prop-tech business in Vietnam offering sales and marketing solutions.

The PM also asked ministries, government agencies, and the people’s committees of provinces and the five centrally-run cities (Hanoi, HCMC, Hai Phong, Danang, and Can Tho) to strictly follow the government’s resolution 33 dated March 11, 2023 on several measures to tackle woes in the market to help it develop in a healthy and sustainable manner.

The Ministry of Construction, Ministry of Finance, and State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) have to work closely with each other and with relevant government agencies to help businesses overcome difficulties and revive the market.

The government leader also asked competent authorities to review housing and real estate projects so that they can work with developers on measures to solve legal problems, especially at projects funded with corporate bonds, bank loans, and capital mobilized from buyers.

The construction ministry was requested to rapidly complete a project on building at least one million social housing apartments for low-income earners and workers in industrial parks by 2030.

The finance ministry was required to carry out harmonious, reasonable and effective measures to support property developers to restructure their bond debts, bank lending rates, payment terms and conditions in line with current regulations.

The SBV was required to soon carry out a credit program worth VND120 trillion ($5.1 billion) to assist commercial banks in providing preferential loans for developers and buyers of projects constructing social housing products and houses for workers, and for reconstructing old apartment buildings.

Administrations in provinces and cities were required to promptly approve master plans, detailed plans and housing development plans for five years and annually.

They were ordered to organize meetings with each developer to help them tackle relevant problems.