A house built on agriculture land in Đà Lạt. Increasing demand to stay in rural areas has caused agriculture land prices to rise on the market. — Photo courtesy of Facebook Group 'Leaving the city to the countryside'.

HÀ NỘI — While most of the realty segment has struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic, agricultural land is still a hot investment as more people want to return to rural areas for a more environmentally-friendly life.

According to land brokers, the prices of agriculture land have doubled and tripled in Việt Nam’s southern provinces, as many buyers leave the city for the countryside.

The trend encouraging people to move from the city to the outskirts started more than a year ago and increased due to the pandemic. Social distancing measures have urged more people to look for gardens and agricultural land instead of being locked down in a crowded city.

“The trend is making land prices rise,” said land broker Nguyễn Tùng Lâm.

According to Lâm, who mostly works in Đà Lạt, Lâm Đồng Province, each plot of 1,000 sq.m of agriculture land cost VNĐ400-VNĐ700 million (US$17,000 to $30,000) last year. Now the price of a plot could reach between VNĐ3 billion and VNĐ6 billion.

Agriculture land prices have also soared in the Mekong Delta, in areas such as Long An, Tiền Giang and Đồng Tháp.

In Lai Cậy district, Tiền Giang Province, the price of agriculture land ranges from VNĐ400 million to more than VNĐ1 billion per plot. They were about VNĐ 200-230 million last year.

Similarly, agricultural land plots around HCM City, such as the provinces of Biên Hoà and Đồng Nai, are reported to reach VNĐ2 to VNĐ2.5 billion per plot.

Nguyễn Thu Nga, a land broker in HCM City, told local media that: “The demand has grown well since last year. Though there are fewer clients coming to see the land, they ask the brokers to check carefully for a purchase after the pandemic.”

Most investors in agricultural land see gains from their investment.

Nguyễn Thu Huệ, a member of the Facebook Group ‘Leaving the city to the countryside’, with more than 2,500 members, said: “I can sell the land I bought at a price three times higher, but I want to keep it.”

Huệ believed that the prices would increase more after the pandemic.

Trần Khánh Quang, director of Việt An Hoa Realty Company, said that since the end of 2019, some investors have tended to put aside 5 to 10 per cent of their budget to buy agriculture plots or small farms in HCM City’s neighbouring provinces as a safe investment.

As concern over the pandemic grows, the trend of returning to rural areas is getting more and more attention. As a result, he said it made the prices of agriculture land rise on the market. — VNS