CITY PROPERTY FIRMS AIM FOR COOPERATION, STABILITY

HCM City needs better co-operation among the State, developers, builders, material suppliers and banks to improve the local property market, the HCM City Real Estate Association has said.

In a document sent to city authorities on developing the property market from now to 2020 with a vision toward 2025, the association’s chairman Le Hoang Chau said that such cooperation would help the sector develop in a more transparent and stable manner.

He said that State agencies along with enterprises should improve administrative procedures, develop a one-stop policy, and reduce the number of procedures as well as set up a database of the city’s real estate market.

Such cooperation among all parties would result in better material prices, Chau said.

Citing the shortage of city funds, the association also suggested using the financing methods of build-transfer (BT) or public-private partnerships (PPP).

It also said the city should strictly manage and ensure the quality of construction, and develop social and commercial housing at affordable prices.

Low-cost housing is especially needed, the association said, because nearly 3 million of the 13 million people in the city are migrants, or 23 per cent of the total population.

Of the total, there are about 400,000 students, with 50,000 people marrying annually.

The association also cited a Department of Construction report which said that 500,000 families in the city do not own housing.

During the 2016-20 period, 81,000 households needed social housing, the report said.

Developing social housing and inexpensive commercial housing as well as housing leased at low prices are the key responsibilities of the city, it said.

In the last 10 years, HCM City’s real estate market has developed strongly, with two bubble periods, one in 2007 and the other in 2010.

The market was frozen, however, from 2008 to 2009 and from 2011 to 2013.

The market began to recover in late 2013, but stagnant signs appeared in mid-2016 as there was an imbalance between demand and supply.

While supply has primarily focused on the luxury segment with condotels and luxury apartments, the demand was for apartments and houses with affordable prices of around VND1 billion.

Over the last 10 years, new housing was built in all districts, beginning in the central part of the city and then moving to the southern area.

In the last four years, activity has moved to the city’s eastern area, whose key part is the new Thu Thiem urban area.

Currently, about 1,200 housing projects are registered in the city. Of those, 500 have been suspended because of land clearance problems.

Source: VIR