HCM CITY – There is an abundant supply of housing, prices are steady, lending to developers and home buyers is increasing, and bad debts are low, according to a quarterly report issued by the Ministry of Construction in September.

The supply of apartments in Hà Nội and HCM City is high, with many major projects in the pipeline.

In Hà Nội, they are mostly in the medium-priced and luxury segments, and include projects like Thanh Xuân Complex and Legend in Thanh Xuân District, Centre Home in Hai Bà Trưng District, and Hà Nội Aqua Central Complex in Ba Đình District.

There are no new projects in the low-priced segment.

In September developers did not cut prices but offered promotions to attract customers.

In HCM City, individual developers are partnering for large projects.

An Gia Real Estate Development and Investment JSC and Phát Đạt Real Estate Development JSC have joined hands with Japanese Creed Group Investment Fund to develop the US$500 million River City in District 7.

The project will have 8,000 apartments.

Nam Long Investment JSC has tied up with two Japanese investors to develop Fuji Residence in District 9 with 87 villas and 800 apartments.

Property prices are steady.

The ministry’s report said the resort segment is seeing plenty of activity. In Đà Nẵng, luxury resorts and tourism-linked real estate projects are attracting lots of interest from large players like VinGroup, SunGroup, HB Group, Novaland.

In Nha Trang, a series of new resorts like Vinpearl Beachfront Condotel, Vinpearl Resort & Villas – Nha Trang, and Movenpick Cam Ranh Resort have started to sell units.

The report also noted that as of the end of July outstanding loans given to developers and mortgages were worth VNĐ420 trillion ($19 billion), an increase of 6.8 per cent from the end of 2015 but a fall of 1.31 per cent comparing with a year earlier.

Banks’ property-related bad debts were estimated at VNĐ17.55 trillion ($800 million) or 4.18 per cent of loans given to the sector.

While the Government designated an amount of VNĐ30 trillion ($1.345 billion) for mortgages at low interest rates, banks have earmarked 32.9 trillion for the programme and lent VNĐ28.3 trillion so far.

The report forecasted the property sector would continue to be steady but with an over supply of luxury apartments a shortage of budget apartments. -- VNS