HÀ NỘI — Property transactions have not been beset by the usual gloom during this year’s “Ghost Month”, reflecting changing attitudes among both local developers and home buyers.

The seventh month in the lunar calendar is known as the Ghost Month in Việt Nam and some other Asian countries. It is believed to be a period of bad luck.

During this month, people often avoid making important decisions like home purchases while real estate investors are also afraid of launching their products. The housing market during the Ghost Month is usually bleaker than other months of the year.

But this is starting to change. Some property firms in HCM City believed that the Ghost Month has seen the highest number of transactions.

Nguyễn Nam Hiền, a representative from a real estate company in HCM City, said the seventh month in the lunar calendar traditionally has been a difficult period for many businesses. For this reason, property firms have not offered their products for sale during this month.

But the month has been an opportunity for those developers which have not hesitated to launch their projects.

He said that his company has had the highest housing sales during the Ghost Month in recent years in both apartment and land segments. They are offering a land project for sale in southern Đồng Nai Province’s Long Thành District.

The number of successful transactions at the project has been high so far, he added.

Nguyễn Thanh Hương, general director of a real estate company in the city, said her firm has offered special promotions to home buyers during the month. For that reason, the number of property transactions has been high at the company.

Hương affirmed that the Ghost Month is only a psychological factor. If businesses have a willingness to bring valuable products to customers, they can have a profitable and successful month.

Lê Hoàng Châu, chairman of HCM City Real Estate Association agreed, saying that the customers’ psychology in buying real estate is more open than before. The seventh month of the lunar year no longer seems to weigh on people.

“People who buy estate products for investment purposes often do not care about the psychology but about opportunities. Meanwhile, property developers often launch products with good prices during the month, pushing investors to pour money into buying estate products,” Châu said.

Nguyễn Văn Đính, vice chairman of the Việt Nam Association of Realtors (VARs), said the market in recent years has been less affected by the tradition of avoiding the Ghost Month than in previous years. The transactions therefore were quite stable while investors are still offering housing products for sale as scheduled. — VNS