Budget homes fall short

Although the current number of unsold apartments has amounted to dozens of thousands of units, the supply of low-cost and commercial apartments of less than 70 square meters each and priced under VN15 million per square meter is insufficient.

According to a report of the Ministry of Construction at a meeting on housing policy and property market held last week, after nearly two months of executing the VND30-trillion home loan program, there have been 150 households and individuals receiving loans worth a combined VND46.02 billion. VND33.46 billion has been disbursed for 139 customers.

Vietnam Bank for Industry and Trade (VietinBank) has received 160 borrowing requests while Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) and Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) have around 100 and 50 respectively. “However, there have appeared difficulties in having low-cost and commercial houses eligible for sale under the program,” Deputy Minister of Construction of Nguyen Tran Nam said at the meeting.

Meanwhile, the total value of unsold real estate in 56 of the nation’s 64 provinces and cities is now VND108.77 trillion, down 15.4% from the first quarter.

Unsold apartments number 27,805 units, worth VND41.542 trillion and accounting for 38.19% of the total, while the respective figures of low-rise homes are 15,007 units valued at VND27.45 trillion, accounting for 25.23%. Unsold land lots total nearly 10 million square meters, worth VND33.95 trillion, and there are over two million commercial land lots worth VND5.84 trillion having found no buyers.

Unsold properties are mainly in Hanoi and HCMC, with the capital city having 9,651 homes worth VND17.06 trillion unsold. Meanwhile, the value of unsold property in HCMC is around VND26.7 trillion, with 12,613 homes, 326 low-rise houses and 265,753 square meters of land and office space.

However, Nam said Vietnam’s demand for low-cost homes was huge. According to a survey of the Ministry of Construction, around 1.74 million people are in need of a budget home measuring 50 square meters until 2015.

Besides, around 1.75 million people would need to buy homes for workers at industrial parks. As many as 700,000 low-cost homes and worker dorms would be needed nationwide, so an abundant supply of such housing is not a concern.

The ministry’s comprehensive report on low-cost housing development indicates that 34 projects for low-income earners have been completed with 18,850 units and a total investment of around VND5.92 trillion. Thirty-two other projects worth a combined VND8.58 trillion are under way, turning out a total of 19,550 units.

Besides, regarding budget homes for workers, 62 apartment projects with 12,500 units have been completed with an investment of VND2.8 trillion. Meanwhile, 39 other projects and over 27,500 apartments worth over VND6.9 trillion are being carried out. - Source: The Saigon Times