HCM CITY –  Changes in consumer lifestyles as well as modern technology anticipating the 4.0 industrial revolution are changing the real estate market and creating new trends.

Consumers are changing their buying habits, focusing on real demand, experts said at a real estate conference called "The Wise Choice" held in HCM City yesterday.

Nguyễn Xuân Quang, CEO of real-estate developer Nam Long Investment Joint Stock Company told the conference that five or 10 years ago consumers bought big houses which could accommodate three generations of a family.

“They preferred buying a house that could be used as an accommodation and office,” Quang said. “Now it has changed. Consumers are mostly young people who focus on choosing a house to live and they care about the living environment. And the house they buy is just for one and two generations.”

Another difference is the payment method, he said, adding that in the past consumers often paid in gold but now there are more methods such as bank credit.

“Việt Nam is undergoing urbanisation. Furthermore, the population is young so the demand is high and there is huge room to develop,” Quang said.

Lưu Thị Thanh Mẫu, CEO of Phúc Khang Investment and Construction Joint Stock Company, agreed that “a change has been shown in consumer demand and knowledge.”

“Demand for a life in which there is enough food to eat and a place to live no longer exists,” Mẫu said, adding that the “world is changing and consumer’s perception of a living environment is different.”

Young, well-educated people earning higher incomes want houses with good living conditions that are friendly to their health and the environment.

With such concerns growing, construction of green housing has increased in recent years in Việt Nam, although it has been occurring in other global markets for a long time.

Việt Nam now has about 100 green housing construction projects, fewer than other regional countries like Singapore, according to Mẫu.

Experts at the conference all agreed that green housing construction would continue as more infrastructure is built in the country.

Co-living trends

Co-living and co-working spaces are also a new trend, which is expected to boom in coming years, experts at the conference said. 

As more technologies are applied globally and e-commerce becomes more widely used, different kinds of living styles will be created in which people can share a common living environment.

In co-living environments, consumers can use the same room, kitchen, and office.

A number of co-working spaces have been developed in Việt Nam, and in the future, more living spaces and public areas may be shared.

Experts at the conference urged developers who typically build offices to invest in co-working spaces.

More than 100 experts from the property sector and leading real-estate developers in HCM City attended the real estate conference, which featured the theme “The Wise Choice” by Forbes Vietnam. — VNS