Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnam’sreal estate market became the second most attractive investment field forforeign investors after it lured 1.1 billion USD in foreign direct investment(FDI) during January-April, or 7.5 percent of the total FDI inflow just behind themanufacturing and processing sector.

In recent years, the propertysector has been appealing to Asian investors, particularly those from China andHong Kong.

A survey conducted by CBREVietnam on its successful transactions in Ho Chi Minh City, Chinese buyers of high-endand luxury property products accounted for 2 percent of the total customers in2016, and 4 percent in 2017. However, the rate surged to 31 percent in thefirst nine months of 2018.

Earlier, realty productswere only purchased by foreigners who lived and worked in the country but nowthey decide to own Vietnamese houses even when they have not set foot to thecountry yet. In fact, Vietnamese developers have actively advertised theirprojects in foreign countries, helping individual investors have deeper insightsinto the Vietnamese property market.

While a number projectswere introduced in Singapore and Hong Kong in 2016 and 2017, developersstrongly promoted their products in China’s Shanghai and Beijing in 2018.

CBRE said more Chinese investors have becomeinterested in HCM City’s property market because they saw the developmentsimilarities between the southern economic hub of Vietnam and Shanghai.

Threedecades ago, Shanghai was almost like HCM City at present with many vacant landareas and low-rise buildings. Now, Shanghai is one of the world’s leadingfinancial centres with soaring property prices.

AnGia Investment said that it has sold more than 80 realty products of RiverPanorama and Sky89 projects to Hong Kong customers. Last month, over 30 brokersfrom the Asia Bankers Club came to Vietnam to work with the project developers,aiming to make meticulous preparations for product marketing and distributionin Hong Kong.

Experts from SavillsVietnam said that foreigners have been more interested in acquiring high-end apartmentsin Vietnam amid a fall in housing supply. The foreign occupancy rate is almostat 30 percent right at the launch of the apartments.

Besides, foreign investors also started their engagement in propertydevelopment in Vietnam. For example, Singaporean-based CapitaLand announced in2018 that it spent around 29.78 million USD buying a 0.9-hectare land lot inTay Ho district, Hanoi, and 60 million USD on a 6-hectare lot in HCM City’s district2 to develop its housing projects.-VNA