Apartment blocks in HCM City’s Bình Thạnh District. — VNA/VNS Photo

HCM CITY — Despite an increase in new developments and resumption of a number of stalled projects, primary market supply of apartments in HCM City remains low, according to a Savills Việt Nam report on the first half of the year.

In the first six months of this year, primary stock remained stable year-on-year at 6,751 units.

Supply was mainly concentrated in Thủ Đức City (57 per cent share) and Bình Tân and Bình Chánh districts (29 per cent).

In the second quarter, the inventory improved by 14 per cent quarter-on-quarter but decreased by 3 per cent year-on-year to 5,635 units.

It included an 87 per cent jump in new supply quarter-on-quarter and a 215 per cent year-on-year rise to 1,186 units at two new projects and eight upcoming launches.

With the launches indicating a gradual recovery in market confidence, sales doubled quarter-on-quarter and soared by 600 per cent year-on-year to 2,300 units, supported by decreasing lending rates, clear legal status and attractive sales policies.

Developers offered policies such as payment of 5 per cent before handover, a fixed guaranteed interest rate for 15 years and discounts of up to 20 per cent.

In the first half, primary prices averaged VNĐ73 million (US$2,800) per square metre.

“Primary supply remains constrained, but is showing green shoots,” Troy Griffiths, deputy managing director of Savills Việt Nam, said.

“The implementation of revised laws, city planning and key infrastructure delivery are welcome.”

Increasing housing needs amid supply constraints might result in a geographical shift to capture unserved demand.

With expanding infrastructure, satellite provinces like Bình Dương and Đồng Nai have improved affordable apartment supply of nearly 24,000 units in the next three years.

In the first half of this year, buyers from HCM City accounted for nearly 80 per cent of transactions at new Bình Dương apartment projects. — VNS