Vinhomes gold-for-property scheme sparks debate over liquidity boost and financial risks

A new program allowing homebuyers to exchange gold for real estate is drawing attention in Vietnam as developers seek to channel idle household gold holdings into the property market through a structure tied to gold valuation and guaranteed returns.

The initiative, launched by Vinhomes - a member unit of Vingroup, comes as gold prices have surged sharply over the past two years, at one point reaching VND190 million ($7,210) per tael.

Under the scheme, Vinhomes said it would cooperate with jewelry and gold trading companies to help customers convert gold into cash for purchasing the developer’s properties over a five-year period.

Customers holding idle gold assets can exchange their gold for cash to buy Vinhomes real estate. After five years, buyers may choose either to continue holding the property or receive back an amount of money equivalent to the value of the gold after the five years plus 10%, implying a 10% return.

The program applies to customers who owned gold before April 25, with the converted gold value required to account for at least 80% of the property price. The remaining balance can be paid in cash and converted into gold value at the transaction date.

According to Vinhomes, the mechanism allows customers to benefit from both property ownership and investment opportunities while helping mobilize idle gold assets in the economy.

Idle gold seen as “dead capital”

Nguyen The Minh, head of investment banking at An Binh Securities, said the concept was not entirely new. “In previous generations, land was commonly priced in gold bars,” Minh said, noting that property valuations in Vietnam historically relied on gold before the country moved away from gold-based pricing.

He said the economy currently faced a growing amount of “dead capital” stored in gold holdings. Since 2025, gold has become a major destination for retail money flows due to fear-of-missing-out (FOMO) sentiment, although some investors have since been trapped after prices cooled.

According to Minh, gold mainly functions as a store of value rather than a medium actively circulating in the economy, leaving substantial assets locked away without generating additional economic activity.

He argued that converting those assets into productive investment channels could help ease liquidity constraints in Vietnam’s struggling property market.

Instead of relying solely on bank borrowing, developers could tap into household gold holdings as an alternative funding source, helping connect investors holding illiquid gold assets with property companies seeking capital.

Minh also noted that gold prices and property prices have increasingly moved in tandem. While real estate appears expensive when priced in Vietnamese dong, valuations may still be comparable to historical levels when measured in gold.

Legal and financial risks remain

Nguyen Phu Thanh, lecturer at the Faculty of Finance and Banking of the University of Economics and Law under Vietnam National University Ho Chi Minh City, said the model could help unlock gold resources in the economy but warned that several legal and financial risks needed careful consideration.

The key issue, he said, was whether the arrangement constituted a straightforward property purchase funded by gold sales, or whether it effectively created a financial product involving gold mobilization, gold-denominated obligations or investment commitments linked to gold prices.

“If the contract includes an obligation to repay the equivalent of 110% of the gold value after five years, then this is no longer a standard real estate transaction but a financial obligation tied to fluctuations in gold prices,” Thanh said.

Given Vietnam’s strict regulations on gold-related business activities, contract structures and disclosure of rights and obligations would need to be highly transparent, he added.

Another concern relates to payment schedules, particularly for off-plan housing projects. Under Vietnamese regulations, developers are subject to limits on how much they can collect from buyers at different construction stages.

Thanh said the requirement that gold account for at least 80% of the apartment value should be understood as a condition on the customer’s asset contribution rather than meaning the developer is allowed to collect 80% of the property value upfront.

Questions also remain over who ultimately guarantees the repayment obligation after five years - whether it is the developer, a gold trading company, a bank or a tripartite contractual arrangement.

According to Thanh, the appearance of banks in promotional materials does not necessarily mean financial institutions guarantee the repayment obligation unless specific legal guarantees are provided.

For off-plan real estate projects, the bank guarantee mechanism needs to be clarified to avoid confusion between the roles of payment cooperation, asset custody, and financial obligation guarantee.

Exposure to rising gold prices

Gold price risk represents another major concern. If gold prices continue climbing sharply over the next five years, the obligation to repay 110% of the gold value could become a significant burden for the guaranteeing party.

Conversely, investors who simply continue holding physical gold would avoid risks related to project legality, property liquidity, contractual disputes or counterparties’ ability to fulfill obligations.

Thanh said the promised 10% return denominated in gold would only be attractive if buyers simultaneously believed that the project had strong legal foundations, the property would appreciate sufficiently and the guaranteeing party possessed adequate financial capacity.

He also warned that if implemented on a large scale, the model could distort market signals by creating the perception of a “double-safe” investment combining gold and real estate. In practice, however, buyers would be exchanging a relatively liquid asset - gold - for a less liquid one in property.

While the model may perform well in favorable market conditions, investors could face difficulties reselling properties, transferring contracts or exiting investments if market sentiment deteriorates.

The initiative highlights a broader question facing Vietnam’s property market: whether converting household gold savings into real estate investment can sustainably stimulate capital flows, or simply shift financial risks onto developers and investors if gold prices continue rising in coming years.