Hanoi (VNA)❀ - Since the long Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday, real estate market across the country has been bleak, forcing realty and brokerage firms to seek out new supplies to sell.

  Contrary to the trend of moving the south recently, the market has moved in the direction of the north. This fact shows that real estate in the north increasingly warm up with a number of promising areas, especially land in provinces adjacent to Hanoi. However, since the long Tet holiday, the market has been quite gloomy. Instead of expanding investment leading to "oversupply, lack of demand" like before, realty and brokerage firms have to seek out new supplies to sell.

"Deploying workers" to find "goods"

A report by a VietnamPlus reporter showed that instead of organising spring trips in accordance with the conception “January is a month of entertainment,” many real estate brokers and supermarkets have deployed workers to find new supplies to sell, thus maintaining corporate profits. With the spirit of “there is supply, there is demand”, while many projects are “still in motionless state” that leads to the lack of supply, realty brokerage firms and supermarkets have actively sought out new supplies and devised plans to access clients. Instead of working in transaction floors in traditional style, brokers have many ways to access clients via ads on social media, Tet and birthday celebration letters, appointment for café or gift giving with project information being revealed cleverly. Nguyen Thi Hoa, sales manager of S4 Supermarket - a Cenland supermarket system under Cengroup said customers tend to sell more quickly because of the strong development of digital marketing in recent years. But due to the scarcity of supplies this year with few new projects in the inner city of Hanoi, sales become harder. However, with experience and skills to "take care" of customers via social media like Facebook and Zalo, Hoa alone has sold four contracts since the Tet holiday. “With such progress, I think I do not be affected much by the market. But new and inexperienced sellers will certainly meet difficulties”, she said. From Hoa's experience, sales must firstly depend on consulting skills, along with knowledge about the market and projects; at the same time solving issues regarding location, prices, banking, project progress, as well as creating customer trust.

“Demand always exists but supplies insufficient”

Sharing from the perspective of a property distributor, CEO of the European Real Estate JSC Nguyen Trong Luu attributed the gloomy market to the public conception “the first lunar month is a month of entertainment” and scare supplies, resulting in fewer sales. However, resort segment remains relatively stable such as projects in Hanoi’s outlying districts or Grand World Phu Quoc. “Aware of customers’ psychology, several brokerage firms allow employees to go travelling while taking customers along to check projects. Due to high spirit on this occasion, a number of deals have been reached”, he said. In general, resort segment has shown better signals since the beginning of this year while apartment segment, especially high-end ones, is gloomy, even without any deal. Even VinGroup’s projects are sold less compared to previous years. “The mid-end and low-cost segment - the core of the market – still attracts customers due to high demand for housing”, Luu added. Contrary to the north, realty projects in the south, such as in Ho Chi Minh City, seem dormant since Tet holiday. Few projects could be launched for sale due to licensing procedures. It is forecast that the supplies will become scarce this year. That is also the reason why investors that used to choose the trend of “moving south" now move to the north. Accordingly, investors frequently look for satellite or outlying areas, mostly focusing on those in “hot” locations that are known to be under planning. “In Hanoi alone, investors used to focus on projects with apartment prices below 3 billion VND (130,000 USD) such as Muong Thanh or Intracom, but now they are almost not investing. Therefore, apartments worth below 3 billion VND are scarce. For segment above 3 billion VND, the supply is abundant but demand is very little”, he said. Sharing the same view, Vice Chairman and General Secretary of the Vietnam Realtor’s Association Nguyen Van Dinh said there was not much breakthrough in the first two months of 2019. Generally, property market nationwide remained bleak with the scarcity of supplies, especially in Ho Chi Minh City.

The suburbs "fertile" but few customers

Dinh said in the context of the shortage of goods for sale in the inner city, some investors switched to housing market in suburban areas and wards that are to be upgraded to the district level. However, the investments are only short-term while the “real demand” is still not much. In the near future, real estate in Hanoi remains relatively stable thanks to newly-approved projects. While in Ho Chi Minh City, many applications are pending. However, the government will surely intervene to provide new supplies by the middle of this year. "When new goods come out, I think the market here will make good deals, particularly in the mid-end segment which is receiving a lot of attention," Dinh said. In Hanoi alone, Dinh said the mid-end segment dominates more. However, mid-end and cheap projects are often pushed far away, such as outside of the belt road No.3, or suburban projects like Thanh Ha. “It can be said that the suburbs are the 'fertile' places that investors are aiming for, but because of the far distance, the actual sales pace is not very good, and is not very suitable for consumers because of poor infrastructure, services, low quality of life, lack of schools, facilities, and communal roads”, Dinh affirmed that this segment is now in high demand but has few transactions.

Switching to "buy and then sell"

Amid the shortage of supplies for mid-end and affordable segments, the surplus of high-end and luxury apartments, some real estate floors shifted to the business model of authorised dealer. They use 3D technology and websites to provide full information for customers. Buyers only need to click on the views and gain a real feeling about the apartments. To sell goods under this method, they must sign contracts with investors to diversify supplies on the website. However, Luu said the model is yet to be professional and meets certain challenges. “Most have focused on individual projects so a "wave" is yet to be created”, he said./.