Deputy Auditor General Bùi Quốc Dũng opens the seminar. — Photo baokiemtoan.vn

HÀ NỘI — The dual price mechanism in land transactions and gaps in market data remain the biggest challenges to accurate land valuation in Việt Nam, representatives from central and Central Highlands provinces said at a seminar on July 7.

Organised by the State Audit Office of Vietnam (SAV) in Khánh Hòa Province, the seminar discussed measures to improve the accuracy and transparency of land pricing.

Deputy Auditor General Bùi Quốc Dũng said the valuation and appraisal of land and land-attached assets play a crucial role in State management of land.

Việt Nam has introduced a series of reforms to improve land valuation practices, particularly through the 2024 Land Law, the 2023 Law on Prices and related regulations, aiming to make the process more transparent and better aligned with market principles.

He said new rules that took effect on July 1, 2026, including changes to land price determination mechanisms, are expected to have significant impacts on regulators, local authorities and businesses.

For the central and Central Highlands regions, where infrastructure, urban development, tourism, the marine economy and major investment projects are expanding rapidly, accurate land valuation has become increasingly important to the investment climate and public administration.

Dũng said the office’s audits aim not only to detect financial irregularities but also to improve legal frameworks, prevent corruption and promote a more transparent environment for people and businesses.

Cao Thanh Thương, director of the Department of Agriculture and Environment of Gia Lai Province, said collecting reliable input data remains the biggest challenge in land valuation.

Following the recent administrative restructuring, Gia Lai now encompasses a vast area stretching from coastal urban centres to mountainous and highland regions, resulting in a highly fragmented land-use rights market. The geographical diversity has complicated the application of all three principal land valuation methods.

Under the market comparison approach, the practice of declaring transaction values below actual sale prices continues to distort market data. Authorities often have to verify prices with buyers and sellers, but such information lacks the legal basis needed for reliable valuation.

In many mountainous communes, limited transactions over the past 24 months have made it difficult to find comparable properties, Thương said.

For the income approach, using financial statements from businesses on neighbouring land parcels can lead to large valuation differences, as profitable firms may push estimated land values higher while loss-making businesses could result in negative values, requiring authorities to apply the official land price schedule.

The residual method also faces challenges, particularly in forecasting future revenues in areas with limited market activity and estimating development costs. Construction cost benchmarks often lag behind market changes, while using estimates prepared by project developers, even after independent review, raises concerns over objectivity.

To address these issues, Gia Lai proposed accelerating the development of a comprehensive land price database, eliminating the gap between declared and actual transaction values and standardising key parameters used in the income and residual valuation methods.

An electronic land price map and integrated data system are expected to improve land management, enhance valuation accuracy and transparency. — Photo Vietnam+

Solutions

Echoing those concerns, Phạm Văn Bình, deputy director general of the Price Management Department under the Ministry of Finance, said that despite improvements to the legal framework, land and property valuation still faces major challenges related to institutions, data and implementation.

He said the biggest obstacle is the lack of a comprehensive and transparent market database. Transaction values recorded in contracts and tax filings often differ from actual market prices, while data from tax, land registration, notary, property and financial agencies remains fragmented.

Bình added that the unique characteristics of each property, including location, planning status, legal conditions and development potential, make valuation more complex. The lack of reliable project documents and cost data also creates difficulties in applying the cost approach.

The residual method remains challenging as it relies heavily on assumptions about future revenues, development costs, project timelines and expected profits amid rapid market changes, he added.

Việt Nam has yet to develop an integrated national land and real estate price database, while the use of technologies such as Big Data, artificial intelligence (AI), geographic information systems (GIS) and automated valuation models (AVMs) remains limited, leaving results largely dependent on appraisers’ judgment and experience.

To improve transparency and accuracy, the Ministry of Finance proposed measures including completing the legal framework, building a national property database, accelerating digital technology adoption, improving appraiser capacity, strengthening supervision and enhancing coordination among relevant agencies. — VNS