Vietnam PM requests lower apartment prices, tighter property credit controls

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has requested that commercial housing prices, particularly apartments, be brought down to “reasonable levels” in line with the country’s overall development, while tightening controls on credit flows into the real estate sector.

The remarks were made at the fifth meeting of the Central Steering Committee on housing policy and the real estate market, chaired by the Prime Minister.

Chinh stressed the need to curb prices of commercial housing, especially apartments, and to steer credit towards priority sectors and economic growth drivers, while applying risk management measures to property lending.

He tasked the Ministry of Construction with finalizing, within January 2026, a proposal to establish a state-managed real estate and land-use rights trading center. The center would standardize transaction procedures, apply a “one-stop-shop” mechanism, gradually move transactions to an electronic environment, and ensure transparency, efficiency and market integrity.

The ministry was also instructed to implement the Government's Decree 357 on building and managing the housing and real estate market information system and database, ensuring data accuracy, completeness and interoperability, and to oversee the establishment and operation of local housing development funds. It was asked to develop policies to promote housing for middle-income earners, defined as those earning more than VND20 million ($761) per month.

The Prime Minister directed the Ministry of Finance to study tax policies aimed at curbing speculation and price manipulation in the property market, while channelling investment capital into production and business activities.

For the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), the Prime Minister requested stricter oversight of real estate credit to prevent speculative capital flows that could distort the market. The central bank was asked to direct lending towards affordable housing projects, social housing, and production and business activities to support the government’s goal of double-digit economic growth.

Late last week, the SBV reiterated its instruction to prioritize credit for production and business sectors and to closely monitor the share of property loans in total outstanding credit.

The central bank required lenders to ensure that credit in the first three months of 2026 does not exceed 25% of the full year's credit allocation and that funding balances remain sound. For the full year, growth in real estate credit must not exceed each bank’s overall credit growth recorded at the end of 2025 against the beginning of the year.

The SBV said it would closely monitor credit growth both overall and in the property sector at individual banks and may cut annual credit quotas for lenders that fail to comply.

Banks were instructed to conduct lending in line with legal regulations, risk governance capacity, liquidity conditions and funding mobilisation, while maintaining safety ratios, particularly those related to liquidity and solvency. The central bank also called for improved credit quality, proper use of funds, and stricter control of bad debt.

Yuanta Vietnam Securities said the 2026 credit policy, centered on the SBV's Dispatch No. 11686, does not represent a sharp tightening for the real estate market, contrary to earlier concerns. Measures such as reducing the credit multiplier from 3.5% to 2.6% and capping property credit growth were described as technical steps to rebalance the market after a strong rebound in 2025. Dispatch No. 11686 (2026) outlines the credit growth targets for 2026.

Yuanta estimated that capital flows into real estate would remain high in 2026 at around VND749 trillion ($28.49 billion), providing sufficient liquidity for core market activities. “Investors should shift their focus from credit quotas to interest rates,” Yuanta said, adding that borrowing interest rates of 8-9.5% for housing purchase could slow transaction volumes and filter out highly leveraged investors, but would not reverse the market’s recovery cycle.

With access to property credit narrowing, Yuanta said banks such as VPB, TCB and VIB may step up consumer lending to fully utilize their 14-19% credit growth limits, boosting consumption and supporting retail sales.

State-owned banks, which hold the largest credit quotas, are expected to channel substantial funding into major infrastructure projects such as Long Thanh International Airport and the North-South Expressway.

Analysts at another broker, Vietcap, said the tightening measures mainly target loans to property developers rather than homebuyers, aiming to direct credit towards projects with clear legal status, genuine demand, and reputable developers.

Despite the tightening, Vietcap maintained a positive outlook, forecasting primary market transaction volumes to rise by 25-30% in 2026, or 20-25% under a more cautious scenario.

In 2025, property lending benefited from a low-cost funding environment. In the first eight months of the year alone, real estate credit expanded by 19%, matching growth for the whole of 2024.

As of August 31, 2025, outstanding real estate loans exceeded VND4,100 trillion ($155.98 billion), with consumer mortgages accounting for 55% and business-related property lending 45%, according to Saigon-Hanoi Securities (SHS) data.

Strong growth in business property loans, up 25%, typically signals funding for developers, contractors and project supply chains, or refinancing to complete projects.

By contrast, growth in consumer property lending, while still robust at 15%, lagged property business lending, indicating that the 2025 recovery was driven more by supply-side project development than by end-user demand.