HCM City (VNS/VNA) – Condominiums remain the best bet for peopleliving in big cities thanks to their affordable prices, and not surprisinglythe HCM City apartment market is showing signs of recovering after the slowdowncaused by the Carina Plaza fire at the beginning of this year, insiders said.

A sales executive from TTC Land told Vietnam News that when hercompany sold its new project in District 4, Charmington Iris, lastweek more than 150 out of 200 units were snapped up.

All three-bedroom units were sold, she said.

Nam Long Real Estate Company told that the sale of its new Flora Noviaproject in Thu Duc district last week attracted 1,000 prospective buyers.

All 273 units in block A were sold, it said.

With prices ranging from 1.5 billion VND (65,700 USD) to 2 billion VND (87,700USD), the project is in the most popular segment.

The second selling phase will be in September.

Not only the primary market but also the secondary market is witnessing arecovery, which is clearly shown through rising prices.

The prices of some new apartments have increased since the developer sold them.

Report from Sai Gon Giai Phong  (The Liberated Saigon) newspaper saidthat at Sunwah Pearl in Binh Thanh district prices are up 15 percent from the 45million VND (2,000 USD) per square metre at which the developer had sold.

At The Sun Avenue in District 2, units are being sold at over 40 million VND persquare metre. The developer had sold a year ago at 33-35 million VND.

Him Lam Phu An in District 9 with 1,000 apartments to be handed over by the endof this year is fetching original buyers a 15 percent profit now.

Florita in District 7 has seen prices increase by 30 percent.

The Ministry of Construction reported that condo prices rose by 1.4 percentquarter-on-quarter in the second quarter of this year.

Industry insiders attributed the price increase to a supply shortage even asdemand remains high.

Most transactions are at projects by prestigious developers which are makinggood construction progress.

Studies by market researchers clearly show the shortage of supply.

CBRE Vietnam said in the second quarter, 6,200 condos were sold, down 36 percentfrom the previous quarter.

The HCM City Real Estate Association reported that supply fell by 44.5 percentin the first half.

Le Hoang Chau, its chairman, said from now through the end of this year, manynew projects would come into the market.

After some difficulties, the condo market would see positive signs in the nextfew months, he said, pointing out that since the beginning of this quarter newprojects are witnessing sales of 60-80 percent.

Condos priced at under 2 billion VND (87,700 USD) would make up the keysegment, he said.

Property investment and management company Jones Lang LaSalle said in areport: “While the official new launches in the second quarter of 2018 totalled6,947 units, down over 49 percent quarter-on-quarter and 11.5 percentyear-on-year, the market also recorded a notable number of 6,000 units undersoft launches.”

There were sales of 7,374 units in this period, down 19.4 percent, in line withnarrowing new supply, it said.

Of them, 70 percent were in the affordable segment at prices of 1,000-1,200 USDper square metre, mainly in Districts 8 and Binh Chanh.

JLL said prices were higher quarter-on-quarter across all segments, with theaffordable segment registering the highest growth of 2.6 percent.

The secondary market too saw an uptrend in the second quarter with a 1.7 percentrise in prices quarter-on-quarter against an average quarterly growth rate of0.5 percent over the 2017-18 period, it added.-VNS/VNA