Vietnam Real Estate Newsletter - No. 67, Week 4 Jan, 2009

Weekly Newsletter
A67
Vietnam Real Estate Week 4, January

The first weekly electronic newsletter issued to registered members, approximately 100,000 reads per month
VietRees, a member of
joining to develop the newsletter

Market situation (p.2)

Real estate foreign investment (p.3)

Vietnam in the world (p.3)

Real estate agents (p.3)

Websites of real estate companies in Vietnam (p.4)

Real estate projects and prices (p.5)

Real estate supply for customer groups (p.7)

Real estate legislation (p.8)

Construction material market last week (p.8)

Stock market last week (p.8)

Research - Consulting (p.9)

Market forecast, statistics expert opinions (p.10)

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full of professional investors or individuals who have demand for real estate throughout provinces and cities nationwide; typically Ho Chi Minh, Ha Noi, Da Nang, Can Tho, Hue, Nha Trang,
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VietRees – Vietnam Real Estate www.VietRees.com Viet Nam Real Estate Newsletter A67 Page 2

MARKET SITUATION
Although 2008 was considered to be an unsuccessful year for the Vietnamese real estate market,
Real estate market in 2009: domestic
according to many opinions, the big projects would gradually fall into the foreign corporations’ hand.
enterprises be at an advantage However, currently, the biggest difficulty that has made the real estate projects with the foreign-owned
Tien Phong – 17 Jan, 2009 investments delay or not properly follow the progress is that the capital disbursement will be hard due to
the global economic crisis. Therefore, this is considered to be a golden opportunity for the big
Vietnamese enterprises to regain the advantage in 2009.
In fact, among the 20 ‘Golden Projects’ in Ho Chi Minh city licensed in 2006, there have been only 2
projects under construction & both of them belong to domestic investors. Many big projects in the heart
of HCMC that are speeding up the progress also belong to Vietnamese enterprises and a series of other
projects have also successfully raised the capital for the construction. In addition to some advantages
such as: labor, materials, land price, etc, being at the low level, the housing demand for the small-size
houses with suitable prices and the policy of kicking the demand for the cheap-price houses have also
been great opportunities for Vietnamese real estate enterprises. Because most of foreign enterprises
have aimed at the market segment of high-grade apartments which is highly unable to find customers.
According to some real estate experts, the purchasing and leasing demands for the high-grade
apartments have now been sluggish. The foreign-owned big projects will be hard to be converted or
provide more products while the demand is still weak. Therefore, this is the chance for Vietnamese
enterprises to be viable on their home market under the pressure of the foreign capital flows by some
ways such as investing, trading in the low-price projects that suit their low capital source and are
encouraged by the State.

After over two weeks since the resolution on the pilot program of allowing foreigners to buy and own
Foreigners buy houses in Vietnam:
houses in Vietnam that takes effect on 1st January 2009, the HCM City real estate market has still seen
the door is open but many people no positive signal. The main reasons include the global economic crisis, the high apartment prices, being
still waver afraid of the complex administrative procedures. As soon as the policy was still “on paper”, many real
estate experts were rather optimistic, even some people were afraid that the above “open-door” policy
Nguoi Lao Dong – 17 Jan, 2009
will create a quot;stormquot; of purchasing houses in the big cities which would make high-grade apartments
continuously increase in price. However, many high-grade apartment projects offer much potential, the
number of foreigners coming to inspect has increased in comparison with before, but there still are no
transactions.
Through the survey, most foreigners really have demands for buying houses in Vietnam. However, the
types of houses that they like often should meet particular requirements such as: able to be used as
offices and accommodations, convenient for transportation, etc. With these factors, some apartment
projects often do not meet the requirements in comparison with the types of townhouses and the
apartment prices have still been quite high.
Many experts have also shown that due to the global economic recession in general and the gloomy
situation of the domestic real estate market in particular, the number of foreigners that have bravely
poured money into the real estate industry at this time has still been limited. A strong possibility is that
the foreigners have still pondered about the market situation & have not hurriedly made their decisions.

Although the real estate market has not been warm yet, the stories about the transaction centers are
Seek goods for real estate transaction
getting hotter each day. A series of real estate businesses in the entire country are urgently setting up
centers the transaction centers in accordance with the Real Estate Business Law and making every effort to
Tuoi Tre – 21 Jan, 2009 market and seek goods for the future.
The transaction centers not only include products of their own or the high-grade projects but also aim at
the market of single houses such as land, houses in the old urban areas, with valid documents and
prestigious investors. In addition, many transaction centers in some large cities in the whole country also
cooperate to create the connection in terms of information of the domestic projects with the customers
as well as the diversification of products.
According to many real estate experts, the market still lacks products although many real estate projects
have been started in the last weeks of 2008, (but they will only offer their products from 2010 - 2011
onwards). The real estate transaction centers opened in the past have just made the beginning, but
unfortunately the real estate market has come to a standstill which leads to the shortage of goods and
absence of customers. Meanwhile, the connection for adding products for the centers has still not been
effective. The real estate experts suggest that it is time to consider opening transaction centers and the
current centers also should upgrade themselves to meet the standards, otherwise the market will
eliminate the centers that have little goods, few customers and operate ineffectively.

Sponsor:


REAL ESTATE FOREIGN INVETSMENT
On the morning 17th January, Au Lac Co., Quang Ninh (Tuan Chau Group) signed a contract with
Holiday Villas hired to manage
Holiday Villas Group (Malaysia) on managing the international tourism and amusement park Tuan Chau,
Tuan Chau tourism site Ha Long city, Quang Ninh province.
VietRees – 19 Jan, 2009 Besides the purpose of transferring the technology of hotel management with the international
standards, Tuan Chau Group hopes that this is an opportunity to bring the tourists of Holiday Villas
global system to Vietnam.

List of the localities attracting
most FDI in 2008 Department of Foreign Investment
(under the Ministry of Planning and
Source: General Statistics Office
Investment) has shown that the total
foreign investment in the real estate
Ninh Thuan has continued to be the leading field across the country in 2008 is
locality in attracting FDI in the list although it has 23.6 billion USD (accounting for
had only 2 invested projects. However, Ho Chi 36.8% of the total FDI).
Minh city is the place attracting the highest
number of projects with 418 projects.
The top target in 2009 is to ensure
that FDI released will be equal to
2008 or below 2 billion USD.

VIETNAM IN THE WORLD
Vietnam is one of the countries Grant Thornton International Corporation has announced the global ranking board in terms of the
prospects for the economic development and clearly indicated the reduction in the positive signals in the
seeing the positive signs
private enterprises through the observations of over 7,000 enterprises at 36 countries. Grant Thornton
Sai Gon Giai Phong – Jan, 2009 has come to the conclusion that the decreasing demand is the biggest threat to the private companies.
According to Grant Thornton, while the big economies such as the United States, Japan, and the
European Union have fallen into the economic crises, Vietnam has still maintained the strong growth
rate in 2008. The main reason for the decline is the impact of the inflation and the global financial crisis.
This has made the positive signal of the enterprises drop from 87% (in 2008) to 32% in 2009. With this
result, Vietnam has ranked 7th in terms of optimism level in 2009.
The private companies have been more advantageous in the time of the economic recession because
the management board of the companies can make the decisions quickly due to the simple system and
flexible policies. Therefore, these companies will operate more effectively than the organizations with the
bureaucratic management style.

REAL ESTATE AGENTS
Real estate business corporations Ministry of Construction is building the project of establishing the two economic groups, including
Vietnam Cement Corporation and Phuong Nam Real Estate Investment – Construction – Business. The
to be born
Prime Minister has approved this project at the beginning of the first quarter 2009.
TheSaiGonTimes – 19 Jan, 2009
Ministry of Construction is accelerating the rate of the progress of equalizing and arranging its
corporations to join the groups, receiving the local businesses participating in the groups. Meanwhile, the
Ministry also prepares the conditions and legal formalities to increase the charter capital of the
corporations chosen as the cores for the groups.

BCCI invests in constructing many Binh Chanh Joint Stock Investment Construction (BCCI) has shown that it will build some big projects in
Binh Tan District, Ho Chi Minh City in 2009.
big apartment blocks
The first project is An Lac building area in An Lac A ward with the total area of 7,990 m2. The 18-storey
VietRees – 21 Jan, 2009
building that includes 300 apartments with the total investment expected to be nearly 594 billion will be
started in early 2009. Moreover, BCCI is also conducting setting up the document on basic designs and
plans to start another apartment project, which is BCCI apartment block on a site of 4,000 m2 at An Lac
ward in early 2009.
In addition, the company has completed the preparation stage for the investment and will implement the
apartment project Tan Tao 1 in Tan Tao A ward with the expected total capital of over 574 billion this
year.

Nguyen Do paid 10% of contributed On the morning of 21st January, 2009 Nguyen Do has paid 10% of the contributed capital to over 40
customers contributing their capital to The Adonis 1 project in Go Vap District, Ho Chi Minh City.
capital to customers
The company also intends to pay 10% of the contributed capital to the customers who bought the
Nguoi Lao Dong – 21 Jan, 2009
apartments of The Adonis 2 project (Dist.8, HCMC) on 22nd January 2009.

Sponsor:


Websites of real estate companies in Vietnam
Property developers Brokerage Evaluation
Ho Chi Minh Ho Chi Minh AREV - www.arev.com.vn
Hoang Quan - www.thamdinhgia.com
Company 585 - www.585.com.vn An Gia - www.angia.com.vn
Vietland - www.thamdinhgia.com.vn
Company 584 - www.congty584.com.vn ACBR - www.acbr.com.vn
VVFC - www.valuation.vn
An Phu - www.anphugroup.vn Dat Xanh - www.datxanh.com.vn
BCCI - www.bcci.com.vn Dia Loi - www.nhadatdialoi.com.vn
Daewon - www.daewon.vn Dat Cat - www.datcat.com.vn Construction
Him Lam - www.himlam.com FICO - www.ficohome.com.vn
Ho Chi Minh
Hoang Anh Gia Lai - www.hagl.com.vn Kim Son - www.kimson.com.vn
CIC8 - www.cic8.com
Linh Phong Conic - www.conic.com.vn Phuc Duc - www.phucduc.com
Coteccons - www.coteccons.com.vn
Nam Long - www.namlongvn.com Hung Phu - www.hungphunhadat.com
Cosaco - www.cosaco.com.vn
Phu Long - www.phu-long.com.vn Hung Thinh 2 - www.diaochungthinh.com.vn
Hoa Binh - www.hoabinhcorporation.com
Phu Quoc Land - www.phuquocland.net Hoang Quan - www.hoangquan.com.vn
Hai Thanh - www.haithanh.com.vn
SacomReal - www.sacomreal.com Intresco - www.intresco.com.vn
Toan Thinh Phat - www.toanthinhphat.com.vn
Sadeco - www.sadeco.com.vn Loc Dien - www.nhadatld.com
Resco - www.rescovn.com Nova - www.novahomes.com.vn
Ha Noi
Thai Thinh Capital - www.richlandhill.com.vn Phat Hung - www.phathung.com.vn
Constrexim - www.constrexim.com.vn
Thu Duc House - www.thuduchouse.com SacomReal - www.sacomreal.com
Cavico - www.cavicovn.com
Phu My Hưng - www.phumyhung.com.vn Tan Dien - www.tandien.com.vn
HANCIC - www.hancic.com.vn
Van Phat Hưng - www.vanphathung.com.vn
HUD - www.hud.com.vn
Vietnam Land SSG - www.saigonpearl.com.vn Ha Noi
Incomex - www.incomex.vn
Cland - www.cland.com.vn
Ha Noi Dong Do - www.dongdobds.com
Architect and Interior Decoration
Phu Thai Group - www.phuthaigroup.com
FPT Land - www.fpt-land.com
Ho Chi Minh
Petrowaco - www.petrowaco.vn
C.E.O - www.ceoholdings.com.vn
Petrolimex – www.pland.com.vn A2 Visualization - www.a2viz.com.vn
Gia Tue - www.giatue.com.vn
Cat Moc - www.catmoc.com.vn
HUD - www.hud.com.vn
Other cities Nha Vui - www.nhavui.com
HDB Viet Nam - www.hdbgroup.com.vn
Nha Viet - www.nhavietdecor.com
Keangnam - www.eng.kne.co.kr Dieu Hien - www.dieuhien.com.vn
Nha Dep - www.nhadep.com.vn
Nam Cuong - www.namcuong.com.vn Thien Loc - www.thienlocnhadat.com.vn
Pho Xinh - www.phoxinh.com.vn
Song Hong Land - www.songhongland.com.vn
Vinaconex - www.vinaconex.com.vn Research
Vincom - www.vincom.com.vn Ha Noi
CBRE - www.cbrevietnam.com
Viet Hung - www.ecopark.com.vn Savills Viet Nam - www.savills.com.vn ACT - www.act.com.vn
VietRees - www.VietRees.com ADKientruc - www.adkientruc.com
Other cities Ashui – www.ashui.com
Consulting Kien Truc Ha Noi - www.kientruchn.com
Becamex IDC - www.becamex.com.vn
Biconsi - www.biconsi.com.vn CBRE - www.cbrevietnam.com
Other Countries
Tuan Chau - www.tuanchau-halong.com.vn Dong Duong - www.indochina-consulting.com
GNSVINA - www.cozyvill.com Eden Real - www.edenreal.com Architects 61, Sing - www.a61.com.sg
Company 579 - www.cecico579.com.vn Hop Nhat - www.uniland.com.vn DP Architects, Sing - www.dpa.com.sg
Duc Manh - www.ducmanhco.com Indochina Land - www.indochinacapital.com SWA, USA - www.swavietnam.com
Long Gia Khang - www.longgiakhang.com Ong&Ong, Sing - www.ong-ong.com
Savills Viet Nam - www.savills.com.vn RSP Vietnam, Sing - www.resp.com.sg
Vina Capital - www.vinacapital.com Surbana Vietnam, Sing - www.surbana.com

Sponsor:


REAL ESTATE PROJECT AND PRICES
Thanh Phu residential area – Dong The whole ground bases of the Thanh Phu residential area project in Vinh Cuu District, Dong Nai has
been sold out after only three days offering for sale (from 13th January, 2009).
Nai sell out ground bases
The 64 hectares residential area include chains of 70 - 120m2 row houses, 180 - 259 garden houses,
TheSaiGonTimes – 17 Jan, 2009
the public works as the administrative center, education, health, culture, trade... aiming at the customers
with average income and the trading price averages about 126 - 250 million VND/base which is divided
into several payment phases.

Breaking ground of Saigon Givral Sai Gon Joint Stock Givral (investors) and Joint Stock COTEC Construction (Construction) held a
ceremony to start the construction of Hotel Saigon Givral at 144 Nguyen Van Troi Street, Phu Nhuan
VietRees – 20 Jan, 2008
District, Ho Chi Minh City on 14th January, 2009.
The hotel includes 14 floors and 1 basement with 192 rooms following 4-star standard. It is expected to
be completed in 2010.

Works start on Mui Ne tourism site Mui Ne resort at quarter 5, Mui Ne ward, Phan Thiet city, Binh Thuan province has been started on a site
of nearly 3.4 hectares with the total investment of over 105 billion.
Nhan Dan – 21 Jan, 2009
The building features Asian architectural style close to nature, including villas, guest houses of 1 - 3
floors along with meeting rooms following the national standard, restaurants, the entertainment and
fitness center. The project is expected to be inaugurated in 2011.

In general, the prices of the high- The price change level of high-grade apartments in HCMC
grade apartments in HCM City VietRees has recorded that in 2008, April and May had the highest decreases with 15% and 10% respectively.
continue to decline
VietRees – January, 2008

According to the statistics of VietRees, the prices
of the high-grade apartment in December
continued to decrease by about 6% as
compared to November 2008. This has been
considered to be the highest decrease from June
2008 until now.

Announced prominent real estate developments during the last 2 weeks*
Week 3 January 2009 Week 4 January 2009
SaiGon Givral Hotel (Phu Nhuan Dist.)
Ho Chi Minh City
Mui Ne Resort (Phan Thiet)
Other cities

Approved prominent real estate developments in HCM City*
December January
Truong Tho apartment building (Thu Duc) Nguyen Cu Trinh Complex (Dist.1)
Housing, apartment, residential area
ReA building An Phu – Binh Khanh (Dist.12)
Cecico 135 apartment building (Thu Duc)
* Note: RA=Residential Area, AP=Apartment Building, HA=Housing Area, RuA=Reurban Area, TA=Tourism Area, IA=Investment Area, UA=Urban Area, ReA=Resettlement area

Websites of properties in Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh Ha Noi Other cities
Blooming Park - www.bloomingpark.com Viglacera Tower - www.viglaceraland.vn Cozyvill - www.cozyvill.com
Saigon Paragon - www.saigonparagon.com My Dinh – Me Tri RA - www.sudicosd.com Flamingo Dai Lai - www.flamingodailai.com
Dragon City - www.dragonland.com.vn Bac An Khanh RA - www.vinaconex.com.vn Van Phu township - www.dothivanphu.com
Preche - www.preche.com Ha Noi Plaza Hotel - www.charmvit.co.kr Dam Vac Golf - www.damvacgolf.com
SaigonPearl - www.saigonpearl.com.vn Phap Van – Tu Hiep RA - www.hud.com.vn Sanctuary - http://sanctuary.com.vn
V-Star - www.v-star.com.vn Ho Tram Strip - www.hotramstrip.com
Time Square - www.timessquare.com.vn Sai Gon Sunbay - www.ctc-corp.vn
Other cities
The Everrich - www.theeverrich.com Eden Lagi Resort - www.edenreal.com
Furama Resort - www.furamavietnam.com
Tan Da Court - www.tandacourt.com Van Quan – Yen Phuc township - www.hud.com.vn
Sai Gon – Mui Ne Resort - www.saigonmuineresort.com
Lancaster - www.lancaster.com.vn Quoc Te Do Son - www.vietlandgroup.com
Sunspa ResortVietnam - www.sunsparesortvietnam.com
The Vista - www.thevista.com.vn

Sponsor:


Property Retail Price
Updated on information from ACBR, Van Phat Hung, Hung Thinh, Phuc Duc, Tuoi Tre Newspaper and developers (VietRees gathered by direct surveys), listed prices can be
original prices or transfer prices at current or at one week prior from the date this newsletter is issued.

Typical apartments in HCM city Other apartments and land lots
Area Price (million
+/-
Dist.
(m2) VND/m2)
Apartment building – HCMC
Central Garden 1 87 32.6
Sailing Tower 1 104.6 65.6 -
An Phu – An Khanh 2 141 13.5
Binh Minh 2 180 15 -
V- star, Dist.7 Sky Garden , Dist.7
Cantavil, Dist.2
Nguyen Phuc Nguyen 3 97 25
* 119.2m2 - 15.1million VND/m2 * 71m2 – 30.9 million VND/m2
* 75m2 – 25.3 million VND/m2
Hung Vuong Plaza 5 132 25.7 -
* 130m2 – 31.9 million VND/m2
Kien Thanh 6 60 12.2 -
Carina Plaza 8 99 13.7 -
The Mansion BC 84 12
Dat Phuong Nam BT 107 20.5
PN Techcons PN 140 23.5 +
Phuc Yen TB 80 13.2 -
Riverside Garden TD 89 14.9
Development land lots – HCMC
The Everich, Dist.11
Blooming Park, Dist.2 Phu My, Dist.7 An Phu – An Khanh 2 200 23 +
* 117m2 – 1,600 USD/m2
Area: 95 – 398m2 * 82m2 – 19.5 million VND/m2 Thanh My Loi 2 200 11.2
Price: 1,800 – 2,400 USD/m2
Phu My - VPH 7 126 18 -
Direct contact with the investor1
Nam Long 7 120 25
Khang An 9 144 6.5 +
Phu Nhuan 9 258 6.1 -
6B Intresco BC 100 14
Phu Xuan - VPH NB 144 8.2 +
Sadeco Phuoc Kieng NB 312 13.
Apartment building – Ha Noi
Dong nam Tran Duy Hung CG 145 26
Preche, Dist.2 Panorama, Dist.7 Saigon Pearl, B.Thanh
Nghia Do CG 50 15.2 +
* 147m2 – 2,222 USD/m2 * 164m2 – 37.8 million VND/m2 * 84m2 – 2,390 USD/m2
Thanh Cong DD 122 28
* 133m2 – 2,200 USD/m2
Lilama HM 78 23.5
Ciputra TH 182 32.4
Vuon Dao TH 126 22 -
Bac Ha TX 80 15
Development land lots – Other provinces
My Phuoc 3 BD 300 1.45 +
Rach Bap BD 220 1.2 +
Khang Linh BR-VT 125 6.5
The Manor, B.Thanh
New SaiGon, Nha Be
The Vista, Dist.2 Tay Nam BR-VT 100 1.8
* 98,9m2 – 16.9 million VND/m2 * 35m2 – 1,723 USD/m2
* 107,9m2 – 1,955 USD/m2 Nam Can Tho CT 100 2.2
* 110m2 – 2,000 USD/m2
* 472m2 – 2,150 USD/m2 HUD DNI 300 1.58 -
Lang chuyen gia Tan Do LA 130 2.6 +

1
Kien A Investment & Services Co., Ltd. - An Phu Ward, District 2, HCMC - Tel: (84.8) 740 6688, Fax: (84.8) 740 6949

Danang: 225 Huyen Tran Cong Chua - T: (84) 511 836 216 * HCMC: 390 Nguyen Cong Tru, D.1 - T: 8 821 7509 * Hanoi: No.6-1D Trung Yen New Town, Caugiay - T: 4 783 1598

Sponsor:


PROPERTY SUPPLY FOR DIFFERENT TARGETS OF CUSTOMERS
* Saigon Construction Corporation investor two apartment blocks high 5-storey for workers in Quarter 1,
Social welfare houses for worker
Linh Trung Ward, Thu Duc Dist, HCMC.
VietRees
* Hung Vuong JSC has just put a 5-storey apartment building into use for cadres and workers. The
company continues to petition Tien Giang Provincial People’s Committee to grant a 5.000m2 land area to
construct more apartment buildings for workers with an investment of 100 billions VND.
* Saigon Paper JSC has put an apartment building into use for workers at My Xuan Commune, Tan
Thanh suburban district, Ba Ria - Vung Tau province. The stage 2 of the apartment building is about to
be implemented with a scale of 8 storey.
th
* Morning of August 28 , 2008, the Ministry of Construction has signed a memorandum for the
cooperation in the field of welfare housing with Korean Ministry of Land-Traffic and Marine.
* Ha Noi Construction Investment JSC (Hancic) has finished 4/10 units of the 5-storey house which
belongs to the housing project for workers at Kim Chung Commune (Dong Anh).
* Construction and Import-Export JSC (Vinaconex) has transferred and put into use 4 blocks of houses
among the total 16 blocks of the housing project for the workers at Thang Long industrial zone.
* The housing area of 7,000 m2 (380 rooms) for 1,500 workers of Dong Quang Knit Limited Company at
Hai Son industrial cluster (Duc Hoa Ha commune, Duc Hoa suburban dist., Long An province) has just
been put into use. The total investment cost of this housing area is 20 billion VND. (02/10/2008)
* The 4-storey apartment building at cluster 5, ward 8, Vinh Long town that serves the cadres,
employees, professional serviceman and etc has been ratified by Vinh Long Provincial People's
Committee with a total investment of over 37 billion VND. (03/10/2008)

* Sai Gon – Gia Dinh Real Estate Company and Hoa Binh Phu Yen Company build Thoi An Apartment
Real estate for the low income
Building in District 12 with 1,000 apartments.
VietRees
* Construction Co. No.8 (CIC8) will invest in construction of 10,000 Keppel Land apartments & Tien
Phuoc Co. will build a resettlement area including 1,900 apartments at An Phu, Binh Khanh, District 2.
* HCM City People’s Committee will advance 50.5 billion to carry out the project of Vinh Loc B, Binh
Chanh residential area for resettlement with hundreds of townhouses and 40 apartment blocks.
* Construction Co. No.5 will invest in construction of 500 apartments at Ward 22, Binh Thanh District.
* HCM City Cooperative Alliance has developed its construction investment project of housing area at Le
Minh Xuan Commune, Binh Chanh Suburban District on a site of 67.49 hectares.
* 50% of the house reserve at The Splendor apartment area (Go Vap Dist.) will be intended to serve
resettlement demand in the district.
* Dat Lanh Co. will offer 1,500 apartments to the market with the prices of 500 - 700 millions VND/unit.
* People‘s Committee of HCMC has approved the project of the resettlement area on a site of 55.24
hectares at Dong Nam Cu Chi industrial - residential area in Cu Chi.
* House management of Dist.1 is assigned to construct the resettlement area at 7/4ª Kha Van Can, Thu
Duc district.
* In early 2010, Hai Thanh company will complete 352 apartments of Hai Thanh 1 resettlement area
project, Binh Tan District for the civil servants at Binh Tan District.
* People’s Committee of Binh Chanh has just cooperated with Hung Vuong university Investment &
Development JSC to construct resettlement area at Tan Kien commune, Binh Chanh suburban district.
* People’s Committee of HCM City has just licensed Cho Lon Real Estate JSC to invest in the
construction of the apartment building at No. 99 Ben Binh Dong, ward 11, district 8 in order to make the
house reserve at the social welfare housing program.
* People’s Committee of HCM City has promulgated the decision about reclaiming the land areas at
Phuoc Kien, Nhon Duc and Phuoc Loc communes, Nha Be suburban district for the construction of the
resettlement area in order to serve the project of Nhon Duc - Phuoc Kien new urban area.
* The HCM City Union of Housing Co-operatives has prepared to commence the construction of Thanh
Loc apartment building with 238 apartments on a site of 6.600 m2 in District 12. The Union intends to
construct another apartment building with over 200 apartments at Truong Tho ward, Thu Duc district.
* HCMC People’s Committee has ratified the planning of Binh Khanh residential area (Dist.2) which is
built on a site of 384,019 m2 to serve the resettlement of the locals in Thu Thiem new urban area.
* Dat Xanh has cooperated with Truong Son Vanguard Youth General Squad to build apartments for low-
income people at Dist.12
* Go Vap People’s Committee and Go Vap Public Benefit Service Co. have bought back the house
reserve belonging to Phu Gia Hung high-end apartments, Duong Quang Ham Street, Ward 15, Go Vap
Dist. and Dong Hung Thuan 1, 2 apartment buildings, Dist. 12 to serve the resettlement of the locals at
Tham Luong project - Ben Cat - Nuoc Len ditch.
* Approximately 184,000 apartments belonging to the investment program in the construction of the
social welfare houses in the stage of 2009 – 2015 with the total investment of about 49,000 billion VND
have been submitted to the government for approval. (30/09/2008)
* 800 social welfare houses for lease - lease to purchase will be built at 19A and 21A plots, Viet Hung
urban area in 2009, which have been ratified by The People’s Committee of Ha Noi City. (16/10/2008)
* 462 units of Khang Gia 3 apartment building (Go Vap Dist.) invested by Khang Gia Real Estate
Investment – Development JSC will be used for the resettlement demands. (27/10/2008)

The Committee for overseas Vietnamese in HCMC has showed that there have been 130 overseas
Dwellings for overseas Vietnamese Vietnamese buying houses, mainly in HCMC. Those who brought houses are those who come back to
and foreigners the country for their long term and direct investment, scientists, culture researchers invited to come back
to the country to become experts and repatriating overseas Vietnamese. To buy houses, beside
VietRees
documents verifying priority subjects, the buyer must present their passport (issued in Vietnam). In the
case that house buyers bring foreign passports, they must have certificates of Vietnamese nationality or
documents confirming their losing Vietnamese nationality, or certificate of citizenship registration.
Sponsor:


REAL ESTATE LEGISLATION
Ha Noi City People's Committee has just decided the construction permit fees for people’s individual
Construction permit fee: VND 50,000
dwelling houses to be VND 50,000/permit. All kinds of other works adhere to the level of VND 100,000.
Kinh Te Do Thi – 17 Jan, 2009
The new construction fee is also promulgated by Hanoi city in accordance with the functions and
locations for building and is calculated on the percentage basis of construction costs. The houses that
are invested by the organizations or individuals and used for living, not for business operation should
submit 0.5% (for districts and Ha Dong) and from 0.1 to 0.2% of the total construction costs (for the
remaining suburban districts and Son Tay).

Ministry of Construction has sent a proposal to the Government on offering the preferential conditions to
Favoring those investing in welfare
the investors building dwelling houses for the subjects that lease and purchase the low-price or welfare
houses houses.
Tien Phong – 18 Jan, 2009 Accordingly, the project investors will receive the preferential treatment in terms of land, tax, credit,
planning and infrastructure: (1) are exempt from land using and leasing costs. (2) The construction
density and land-use factor are adjusted to be maximum1.5 times greater. (3) Paying 0% VAT and the
tax rate on corporate income is 10% of taxable income. (4) Offered preferential loans or repaid the
interest rate according to the regulation by the State. (5) Allowed to take out loans from the local funds of
housing development.

The Ministry of Finance has just sent the document to Tax Bureau to provide the guidelines on
Problems related to personal income
calculating the personal income tax for transferring real estate.
tax when transferring real estate
Accordingly, the individuals that transfer the use rights of land and works associated with land will pay
VietRees – 20 Jan, 2009 the tax for transferring the land-use right if they submit the legal documents to the State management
offices before 1st January 2009 and the tax agencies publicize the tax notice. For the cases of
transferring the apartment buildings submitting the documents before 1st January 2009, the personal
income tax against the house value should not be collected. For the value of the allocated land (if any),
the tax on transferring the land use rights should be collected.
The personal income tax for the incomes from transferring real estate is calculated following the tax rate
of 2% based on the prices of the transferred properties written in the contracts. For the individuals
transferring the real estate with full valid documents, valid records that certify the transferred prices,
original prices and the costs relevant to the transfer activities and the tax payers propose applying the
tax rate of 25% on the income because the tax rate that has to paid is lower than the tax rate of 2%
applied to the transferred prices, the tax is calculated following the methods of applying the tax rate of
25% on the incomes from transfer activities.

CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL MARKET
Not let cement be scarce The Government office has just had the official document informing of the solutions to stabilizing the
market and stimulating the cement demand. The solutions to stabilizing the market and kicking the
Edited by VietRees
cement demand which were proposed by the Ministry of Construction have been ratified. In addition, the
Government has also asked the Ministry of Construction to direct the enterprises to actively implement
the methods of reducing the product costs, developing foreign and domestic consumption market.
The year 2009 is expected to complete the construction and put 18 cement projects into operation with
the total capacity of 20.47 million tons of cement. By the end of 2009, the total capacity of reverted
furnace cement factories in the whole country has reached 56.8 million tons. Along with 3 million tons of
the vertical shaft kiln cement factories that are currently operating, the total capacity of the cement
industry has reached nearly 60 million tons. Thus, the production capacity of the domestic cement
factories in 2009 meet the consumption demand and there is no shortage of supply.

STOCK MARKET
Two bourses converse and slightly * At Ho Chi Minh bourse, at the opening time of the
market, the prices of some blue-chips have increased and
up, Vn-Index exceeds 300 threshold,
pulled the VN-Index up 0.64 points to close at 300.68
HasTC-Index surpasses 100 landmark points. The total trading volume of this phase has reached
Edited by VietRees nearly 750 thousand units worth over 18 billion. Entering
the consecutive order-matching phase, the upturn has
Chart Source: Vietstock
continued to be maintained, VN-Index has added 0.92
Up to date: 22 Jan, 2009
points as compared to 301.6 points of the first phase.
Ending the session, VN-Index has added a total of 1.08
points as compared to the previous sessions, up to
301.12 points. The total trading volume on the whole
market of this session has only reached 4.6 million units
worth approximately 103 billion VND.
Therefore, from 19th to 22nd Jan 2009, Vn-Index has only had 1 upward session and 3 downward
sessions. As compared to the last week, Vn-Index has lost 5 points (from 306.12 down to 301.12 points).
* In Hanoi, after losing points in 8 consecutive sessions and falling down to below 100 points yesterday,
in today’s session, HASTC-Index has come back to the upturn when adding 0.56 points to close at
100.31 points. The total trading volume on the whole market has reached 2.24 million units worth 57
billion VND.
Similarly to Ho Chi Minh bourse, HASTC-Index has also had 3 downward sessions and 1 upward
session from the first week to 22nd January 2009. Hanoi bourse has also lost 2.53 points as compared
to the last week (from 102.84 down to 100.31 points).

Free register for weekly newsletter: Please send your email to marketnews@VietRees.com * Sponsor and advestising: T: (08) 3948 5574 - E: properties@VietRees.com


RESEARCH – CONSULTING
Solutions to enhancing the competitive abilities of the Vietnamese real estate enterprises
1. Why should the Vietnamese real estate 4.1. Enhance the management ability and train In addition, the enterprises should combine with
enterprises enhance their competitive abilities? the leaders of the enterprises. universities and colleges to recruit excellent
Enhancing the competitive abilities of the To develop the above abilities, the decisive factors undergraduates in order to build the active young
Vietnamese real estate enterprises is an are the activeness and positive striving of every team to undertake the important professional
indispensable thing in the process of integration businessman. positions in the near future.
especially in the difficult situation of the current real According to VietRees, firstly, the leaders of the
estate market and the decline of the economy, enterprises should pay attention to enhancing the 4.7. Build up a good image to the public.
helping the real estate enterprises stand firm on essential skills and update the modern knowledge. Any enterprise understand clearly that if it wants to
their feet & develop in the coming years. Thereby, Some knowledge and skills should be updated and have a good public image, firstly, it has to win the
it has contributed to enhancing the competitive systematized. If the basic skills are combined with customers’ trust by the quality of its service
power of the whole economy. On the other hand, the effective management knowledge, there will be products, the marketing business activities and
in the current situation of the market, if the the decisive impacts on the managers of the real after-sales service, etc.
competitive abilities are not enhanced, the estate enterprises. Thereby, this contributes to Through the marketing and after-sales strategies
enterprises will be able to suffer the losses, close improving the competitive abilities of the real estate to promote the enterprises’ own brands, if this
down and go bankrupt. According to VietRees, to enterprises. work is well implemented by real estate
assess the competitive ability of one real estate enterprises, it would be very convenient for them
enterprise, firstly the real estate enterprises need 4.2. Improve the quality of service products and to raise the capital through issuing their shares
to identify the internal factors and external factors the diversity of the provided services and bonds to the public.
impacting on their competitive abilities. When the source of real estate products is However, the real estate marketing activities on
According to VietRees, the essential internal growing, the quality of service products is getting the current market have not received the proper
factors that the enterprises need to use to assess more attention of the customers. The quality of the investment from the investors, including the big
the competitive ability of one real estate enterprise real estate service products should deserve the real estate investors. When the market was
include: money that customers have paid. The enterprises eventful as in 2006 - 2007, the investors mainly
• The quality of service products have to rearrange the structure of the products in focused on the phase of organizing the sales, the
many segments, direct the products at the current
• The diversity of provided services events and introducing the products and the
needs of the customers and take the quantity to
• Human resources marketing activities through media took place very
offset the profits (for example: investing in the incoherently and inconsistently.
• The ability to develop the market
housing segment for the medium - income and The investors have not created the difference or
• Trademarks and the prestige of the real estate
low-income people). prominence for their real estate products besides
enterprises
the architectural design elements. Many investors
• Financial ability
4.3. Build up the market information have had many large real estate projects and
• Organizational and management ability of the
department; regularly follow and fully update traded products on their own but they have not had
real estate enterprises
the movements of the market through the mass the marketing/business departments, marketing
• The real estate information system media channels and the actual surveys. departments or the professional staff that are in
• The level of using the information technology This is not work that any enterprise can also well charge of marketing.
The external factors influencing the competitive perform while the real estate market information In the current difficult situation, a few real estate
abilities of the real estate enterprises can include has become less transparent as now. When there companies have had many new marketing ways,
the macroscopic policies of the government – the have not been State agencies that can organize, aiming at the real customers.
law factor, the domestic and foreign competitors, collect and analyze the market information, the real
the capital market, the psychology of the subjects estate enterprises should choose the prestigious 4.8. Expand the channels of raising capital for
joining the market, etc. For these external factors, units to agree on providing suitable and essential the real estate enterprises.
the real estate enterprises are very hard to information for their enterprises. In fact, according The current capital source of the real estate
intervene, change or adjust. Therefore, the to the VietRees, it has been so hard for many enterprises has mainly come from the commercial
enterprises only need to thoroughly study and businesses to carry out this work on their own. In
banks. Although the banks have reduced the loan
understand the external factors and focus more on the case that they cannot build up and effectively
interest rates, the loan conditions have become
the internal factors. operate a team to handle this work, they can more difficult than before. As a result, only a few
perform this through professional units that real estate enterprises can borrow money from this
2. How to enhance the competitive abilities of specialize in researching, providing the market
main capital channel. A few companies have
the Vietnamese real estate enterprises information and consultancy in terms of real estate.
issued the shares on the stock market but they
To enhance the competitive abilities, one of the
could not raise much capital because the stock
things that the enterprises need to do is to actively 4.4. Expand the business investment market
market has been freely falling.
evaluate their real ability and find out the most following the specific routes depending on the
In addition to the capital borrowed from the banks
basic strength in order to promote the flexibility in scientific results of the market research
and mobilized from the stock market, the
each economic period. surveys. enterprises should expand issuing the enterprise
According to VietRees, only when the real estate
bonds and real estate bonds from the real estate
enterprises possess, construct and promote their 4.5. Build up the legal department in each
projects that they invested, meanwhile, promoting
key competitive abilities in comparison with other enterprise having the function of offering legal
the works of the joint-venture, cooperation and
competitors, they can have the sustainable and consulting to the managers and hold the works
merger for development.
long-term development. of preventing the crisis risks.
This definition will help the enterprises build the
Summary:
4.6. Improve the real estate knowledge of the
effective development and competitive strategies.
In the current market situation, if the competitive
current employees and attract the good
abilities have not been enhanced and there have
3. The weaknesses in the competitive abilities employees.
not been the basic strategies, the enterprises will
This is the weakness of most of the Vietnamese
of most of the current real estate enterprises
be able to suffer the loss, close down and go
• The quality and competitive abilities in terms of enterprises in general and the real estate bankrupt. To ensure the objectivity in assessing
enterprises in particular. To have highly
management are poor. the competitive abilities, VietRees would like to
• The human resources are not methodically professional staff, the enterprises need to have the advise the enterprises to perform this work
strategies for holding and attracting talents. To
trained in terms of the real estate field. seriously and probably need the help of the
enhance the work effect, every enterprise should
• The real estate information lacks transparency. prestigious consultants on the market.
offer professional training courses to the key staff
• The quality of work is bad. On the other hand, no matter how they assess,
in order to suit its requirements in each period.
• The financial ability is low. they also need to have the bases to compare with
Therefore, the effective training programs and
other enterprises that are in the same operation
• The weakness in terms of brand. plans have been one of the methods that the
field, market segment and directly and indirectly
• Not really aiming at their right customers. enterprises have used to enhance the competitive
compete with them.
abilities. Meanwhile, the enterprises should pay
• Not understanding and strictly execute the law.
attention to building up the reasonable treatment
4. Solutions to enhancing the competitive policies such as salary policy, bonuses to keep the
stability in their volume of staff, especially the
abilities
VietRees – December 2008
excellent staff.



REAL ESTATE MARKET FORECAST
* Note: Information on market forecast is only updated every 4 periods (after one month) by VietRees – January, 2009
The transaction situation of apartments, townhouses and project ground bases in December has
General tendency of Ho Chi Minh
continued to decrease. According to VietRees’s forecast, the real estate prices can continue to go down
City market with the decrease of approximately 5% per month in December and before Lunar New Year. The
property prices in 2009 are hardly likely to be on the upturn.
The successful transactions at the end of December last year was a little bit higher than the previous
months. However, the transactions have just focused on the segment of low-value townhouses and
apartments. For the group of the high-grade apartments, the rate of the successful transactions was
quite low and inconsiderable. The amount of overseas national currency exchange at the end of this
year has dramatically dropped and not been invested in the real estate field as in the previous years but
it has been used for the production or paying the debts.
The difficulties in the credit situation, the deflation of the economy and the coming maturity of the
contracts mortgaged by the properties have made many properties to be sold out at the prices that are
quite low, even lower than the initial selling prices of the investors. The total outstanding real estate
loans have accounted for nearly 10% of the debts of the whole the banking system, therefore, the banks
demand payment of the debts. And as a result, many investors have to sell their projects and products at
the low prices. Many real estate enterprises have lacked the cash to maintain their business and it is
very hard to borrow more money from banks. On the other hand, currently, some banks have consigned
the mortgaged high-grade properties of the customers for sale and extended the debts so that the
customers have more time to sell their properties in order to pay the loan contracts.

The supplies of the apartments belonging to the medium and low segment have been quite limited;
Apartment market
therefore the market belonging to this segment has also seen no changes as compared to the previous
month. Many high-grade apartments with low prices (mainly belonging to those who sell out their
properties) are hunted for. Meanwhile, the situation of checking the prices of the sellers has appeared on
the market through the self-listed selling prices that are quite low. The sellers have really not wanted to
sell because they will suffer considerable losses if they do so. However, if they offer the high prices
(though suffering little losses), it will be very hard for their properties to be sold at this time.
The high-grade apartments have seen few customers, especially many apartments in Phu My Hung and
many other areas in District 2 and 7. Although the prices have dramatically declined (over 50%), there
have been few buyers. With the movements of the current market, according to VietRees, the prices of
the high-grade apartments will continue to go down after Lunar New Year.

Project ground base market Although the prices of the project ground bases have considerably dropped, they have still been too high
to those who have real housing demands. As a result, the transactions have been are also very low. If
these people have real housing demands, they will choose the apartments or townhouses, not buying
ground bases. Therefore, the transactions have still been very slow.
The prices of many ground base projects in some areas of District 7, Nha Be have declined by 60% but
the successful transactions have still been very scarce. Many investors are worried about the ability of
selling their real estate in the current difficult situation of the economy and the frozen market.

Real estate companies Many previous companies that expanded their real estate business investment have now come back to
their main business fields. Many secondary investors have faced many difficulties such as no cash and
no customers. If this situation continues, the real estate investors who lack the capital will face
bankruptcy risk; have to sell the projects at low prices and withdraw from the market in 2009. In fact,
according to VietRees, there are a lot of middle-ranking and senior managers have withdrawn or
temporarily withdrawn from this field or reciprocally convert their assignments between the real estate
companies.
According to VietRees, the real estate investors should switch to the apartment projects with suitable
prices for the medium-income people, instead of aiming at the projects with the high prices like before.
The medium-price projects can be sold quickly; help turn over the capital and take back the capital
quickly. Then, the capital has been continued to be used for reinvesting in serving the customers who
have the real demand because the demand of this group of customers has still drawn little attention and
not been properly exploited yet.
Forecast in 2009 The real estate market with the current movements under the growing impacts of the financial crisis and
global economic recession, the Vietnamese real estate market has seemed to be gloomier. VietRees
has shown that there is a faint possibility that the market will recover in 2009. The market in 2009 will
have more difficulties than in 2008. Many real estate investors and speculators will face the bank
payments while the real estate prices have still not seen any signs of the recovery.
According to VietRees, after Tet holidays, the real estate market will be an attractive playground and
opportunity for the investors with the large capital and long-term investment strategies. The decline of
the market will minimize the speculation. The market will be under the control of buyers, not sellers like
before. For this reason, the potential real estate enterprises should build the long-term development
strategies and actively work in the research and development, especially seriously investing in
researching the market and customers; sustainable developing and avoiding the investment on a large
scale in the current difficult situation.
The coming investment trends The tendency of switching to the investment and development of the low-and-popular-price houses to
attract the majority of customers is getting clearer. Many enterprises are planning to promote their
for Vietnamese real estate
investments in this market segment. It is expected that those who have medium and low incomes have
enterprises many opportunities to approach this supply in the future.
According to VietRees, enterprises should invest in the apartments with the relative areas of 40 – 60 m2,
good structure, relatively good materials and equipments – (not need to be high-level ones), the selling
prices of nearly 10 million/m2. The apartments with the value of around 400 – 600 million VND/flat will be
likely to attract many customers. The customers that should be aimed at include the young families,
students, workers and civil servants in Ho Chi Minh.
In fact, some foreign investors are interested in this market segment. Therefore, the domestic investors
should be quicker because, according to VietRees, Vietnamese enterprises can have more advantages
than other foreign enterprises in this market segment.


Vietnam Real Estate Newsletter - No. 67, Week 4 Jan, 2009

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Vietnam Real Estate Newsletter - No. 67, Week 4 Jan, 2009