Hanoi (VNA) - Experts said the legality of coastalcondotels should be clarified since the product had recently emerged aninvestment trend in Vietnam’s realty market.

According to Nguyen QuocKhanh, president of G5 Property Trading Floor Alliance, condotel, a condominiumoperated as a hotel, is a new property product in Vietnam but has alreadygrabbed significant market attention.

Khanh cited statisticsshowing that in 2016 alone, there were more than 12,000 condotels put up forsale on the market.

However, the lack ofregulations was hindering the development of condotels as well as investment inthis segment, Khanh said.

Khanh said investorsremained unclear about ownership when investing in condotels.

Developers were offeringdifferent durations for condotel ownership, which could be 50 years, 70 yearsor long term, depending on the project, and this was confusing investors, Khanhsaid.

He said the granting ofcondotel ownership certificate also faced obstacles as details had not beenclearly laid out.

“Condotels are beingdeveloped mainly in tourist-attraction localities. The project can be developedon commercial service land which is for lease and not allowed to be sold likeresidential land. As a result, it is difficult to ask for an ownershipcertificate,” Khanh said.

In addition, there wereno detailed regulations on the purpose of condotels as well as the fees to becollected.

Investors were alsoworried about the feasibility of returns that developers guaranteed andtransparency on returning guaranteed profits, Khanh said. Popular rates ofreturn that developers guaranteed for condotel investment were between eightand 14 percent for a period of 5-10 years.

To promote condoteldevelopment, policies on ownership should be clarified and condotels should beadded as a legal property product, Khanh said, adding that annual audit ofcondotel projects must be made mandatory to protect investors’ rights.

According to Doan Van Binh,Vice President of the Vietnam Real Estate Association, regulations on grantingcondotel ownership certificate, ownership duration and ownership transferneeded to be clarified to boost liquidity.

Binh said technicalstandards of coastal condotels must be issued early for appropriate operation.

According to Nguyen VanNam, deputy director of the Da Nang Construction Department, the development ofcondotels must be put under tight management to ensure compliance with urbanplanning and in accordance with technical infrastructure and tourism industrydevelopment. Responsibilities of developers, owners and ownership must also beclarified, Nam said.

Do Thu Hang, deputydirector of property services firm Savills Hanoi, said condotels made anappearance in Vietnam’s realty market some five years ago and became anespecially hot trend since last year. Hang forecast thatliquidity of condotels would see improvement this year and remain an attractiveinvestment channel.-VNA