Vietnam real estate credit situation positive despite bond risks: VIS Rating exec

Credit accessed by Vietnamese real estate businesses has risen by 15-16% so far this year, said Duong Duc Hieu, director of rating and research at Hanoi-based Vietnam Investors Services (VIS Rating).

Despite the significant risk related to bonds, real estate firms have managed to access other credit sources effectively, he said at the Vietnam Investment Forum 2025 held in Ho Chi Minh City last Friday.

Hieu noted the volume of overdue real estate bonds is significant at about VND115 trillion ($4.53 billion), accounting for roughly 60% of all overdue bonds in the market.

Hieu observed that overdue real estate sector bonds affect not only bondholders but also investors involved in the developers' projects, who are experiencing significant difficulties and losses.

He stressed the need to monitor whether regulatory bodies aim to further tighten or promote the bond market. The National Assembly is currently amending the Securities Law, which will likely result in a series of related circulars and decrees regarding corporate bonds.

"The real estate bond market has been generally slow, waiting on regulatory updates, which has led to a 30% drop in new issuances this year, in both volume and the number of issuing companies," Hieu said.

However, he added, problems with the bond channel do not indicate issues with other capital-raising channels for investors. Real estate companies have continued to effectively access capital through channels like banks.

"Real estate is one of the sectors that receives strong support from government agencies and banks during challenging times. In 2023, when liquidity and housing demand were low, the Vietnamese banking system supported the real estate market through lending," Hieu noted.

Banking support is behind the increase in credit accessed by real estate businesses this year, he reiterated.

The stock market channel has also been utilized well by real estate businesses over the past two years, he said. Most companies, aside from those facing particular challenges, have solid capital sources at present.

Besides the above channels, capital accessed through mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and foreign direct investment (FDI) has shown strong growth, Hieu said.

Homebuyers’ capital is also rebounding, reflected in the rise of consumer credit for real estate purposes, growing by just 1% in 2023 but up around 7% by the end of September 2024, he added.