An apartment building in the city of Cần Thơ. More and more apartments are being built in Mekong Delta provinces in recent years. – Photo plo.vn

MEKONG DELTA – Many provinces in the Mekong Delta are seeing an uptick in new apartment projects, facilitated by a rise in housing demand and traffic infrastructure development.

The city of Cần Thơ currently has 10 apartment projects, the most among Mekong Delta provinces.

They are mostly social housing projects, while the rest are low- to medium-income apartments. Their prices vary from VNĐ900 million (US$38,504) to around VNĐ2 billion.

According to the city’s Department of Construction, there is a luxury apartment project under construction, and two more are set to be built.

New apartments are expected to account for around 30 per cent of new real estate supply in Cần Thơ’s market for the last half of the year.

Nguyễn Hữu Nghĩa, deputy director of Hậu Giang Department of Construction, said that the province has a 300-apartment project priced at up to VNĐ700 million per apartment, which is very suitable for local labourers and state workers.

Other Mekong Delta provinces such as Tiền Giang and An Giang are seeing more affordable apartment and social housing projects in recent years.

New apartments tend to be filled up relatively quickly, with some locals even selling their houses to live in new apartments that are built near schools and hospitals.

Đoàn Công Dũng, director of Bến Tre Province’s Department of Construction, said that apartment development is an inevitable trend to satisfy the rising local demand for living space.

Locals are opting for apartments to stay close to the city centre and for easier access to utilities, he said.

Đỗ Hoàng Thọ, head of Housing and Real Estate Market Management Department under Cần Thơ’s Department of Construction, said that buying an apartment is a new trend there, especially among young people who want to live in urban centres.

They find apartments more affordable than houses, and more secure too since apartments have stationed guards, he said.

“Cần Thơ has many universities, and many parents from other provinces are buying apartments in the city for their children so that they can live in high-security places. After they finish their studies the parents can sell their apartments for a profit,” he said.

When upcoming expressway projects to improve the city’s connectivity are finished in the future, more investors may build high-end apartments there, he added. – VNS