Vietnam Real Estate Newsletter - No. 71, Week 4 Feb, 2009

Weekly Newsletter Vietnam Real Estate A71

Week 4, February

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Market situation (p.2)

Real estate foreign investment (p.3)

Vietnam in the world (p.3)

Properties on the world (p.3)

Real estate agents (p.3)

Real estate legislation (p.4)

Websites of real estate companies in Vietnam (p.5)

Real estate projects and prices (p.6)

Real estate supply for customer groups (p.8)

Construction material market last week (p.9)

Stock market last week (p.9)

Market forecast, statistics expert opinions (p.10)

This weekly newsletter is shared with partners, clients, members (registered) and internal VietRees together with those who are concerning or interested in Vietnam real estate market changes. Although the information is selected, synthesized from all reliable sources, this newsletter is only for reference and VietRees is not responsible for the occurring damage. Please visit the website www.VietRees.com for further Vietnam Real Estate information. When individuals and organizations quote or publish the information from our newsletter, please cite the source VietRees. According to the statistics on registration for the newsletter, the subjects making reference to the newsletter includes real estate investors; companies or units of government performing management tasks, business marketing, consulting, broking, assessment, real estate finance, construction, banking, architecture, interior decoration; domestic and foreign press agencies; and full of professional investors or individuals who have demand for real estate throughout provinces and cities nationwide; typically Ho Chi Minh, Ha Noi, Da Nang, Can Tho, Hue, Nha Trang, BRVT, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Ha Tay… We would like to say thanks to the sponsors and all of the readers. We expect to continue to receive your support as well as your comments to improve our newsletter.

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MARKET SITUATION Supply of office buildings blooms Thoi bao Kinh te Viet Nam – 24 Feb, 2009

According to a recent study, the growth of the supply for the office market within the next 3 years will reach 122% per year. The dramatically increasing supply will save a considerable cost due to leasing premises with low prices. The current difficult economic situation has made many companies reduce their areas or switch to other places to save costs. Therefore, the occupancy rates in many office buildings in the city are decreasing and the rents are also going down. When the demand has dropped, office buildings that have just come on to the market have suffered heavy pressure. And to compete, the owners of office premises for lease have offered prices that have decreased by about 30% as compared to last year. Grade-A offices have ranged from 48 to 60 USD/m2, grade-B offices have ranged from 28 to 40 USD and grade-C offices have ranged from 14 to 25 USD. The price competition has made the goods on the market drawn up in ranks, which has created the increasing distance between office grades. If following the progress properly, until the end of 2009, the office market in Ho Chi Minh City including the existing areas and newly completed areas would be 1,250,000 m2. In which, the area of grade-C offices is 555,000 m2 and the area of grade-A and B offices is 695,000 m2. As compared to the end of 2008, the premise areas for office space have increased by over 340,000 m2. Before the boom of the supply of office buildings, consultants advised investors of office buildings to have a plan to actively change the use of buildings, tightly following the market situation to timely and flexibly adjust the signing of lease contracts, the increases and decreases of the rents and providing the high quality services to attract and keep customers. The experts have also predicted that the year 2009 is a suitable time for those who lease offices because they have more time and products to choose. Meanwhile, they also can request and be offered many more facilities than before.

HCMC: Is the real estate market’s recovery true or just imagination? Lao Dong – 25 Feb, 2009

Last week many investors released a program of reducing the price of apartment projects by from 40 –42% and the attached programs of supporting finance for purchasing products. At first sight, the above figures are very impressive but when putting them in comparison with the general decreases of 50 –70% on the whole market, the above reductions have still been inconsiderable. Therefore, it is easy to understand why the price of projects offered for sale has still been higher than the current prices of the retransferred apartments. Currently, the market for retransferring completed apartments has been at the low level. In the meanwhile, the segment of the project land at some areas such as District 2, 9, etc has seen the signs of heating up because people that receive the support for damages and compensation for the site clearance in the project of Thu Thiem new urban area have required price increases. The experienced real estate market analysts have not been sure to assess whether the real estate market’s recovery true or just imagination. According to them, although the manifestations of the market has shown that the market has had seen the signs of recovery, in the general context of the whole economy, it can not be defined whether these conditions are stable and last long or not. On the other hand, the investment in the real estate market needs to have at least from 2 to 3 years to stabilize.

Ha Noi: The real estate market has warmed up Lao Dong – 27 Feb, 2009

Hanoi real estate market has warmed up gradually. It is the general judgment of the local real estate brokers for the past two weeks. The projects that have attracted many customers include Van Phu urban area, Xa La residential area - Ha Dong - Ha Tay, Van Khe close to Van Phuc silk village - Ha Dong. While the gold and USD prices are dancing, the deposit interest rate is low and the amount of people that withdraw money to invest in real estate has increased significantly. Those who have pursued real estate brokerage for many years has said that the difficulties in this field have just been temporary and the opportunities for the long-term development has still remained good, especially when the real estate prices have declined by 30 - 50% as of now.

Signs of switching to the investment in low-price houses Thoi bao Kinh te Viet Nam – 26 Feb, 2009

Most of the real estate experts have shown that although banks have begun to lend for the real estate field and the interest rates have dramatically decreased in 2009, the real estate investors will not be able to warm up the market if they just rely on bank capital. Even they have to suffer heavier pressure because the banks will selectively offer loans to projects that are committed to properly follow the progress and have good outputs. Therefore, each real estate enterprise is obliged to build the investment and business strategy that is suitable for the new situation. According to VietRees, the trend of switching to investing and developing low-price and common houses has attracted a lot of clients and an increasing number of real estate enterprises have set up their investment plans for this trend because the medium-price projects can be sold quickly and investors can take back capital quickly. And then they can continue to reinvest in serving clients with real demands. Because the demand of this customer group has still drawn little attention and has been exploited rather limited, it is promising that the real estate market in 2009 due to an increasing number of properties with competitive prices and various sizes.


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REAL ESTATE FOREIGN INVETSMENT Total FDI in the whole country in February, 2009 Source: The Foreign Investment Bureau In the first two months of 2009, the total FDI on the whole country has reached 5.3 billion USD. In February, 2009 both the newly-registered and increased capital has been 5.1 billion USD, 27 times higher than January, 2009.

The Foreign Investment Bureau forecasts in 2009 and 2010 will be a difficult year for attracting FDI in Vietnam due to the impacts of the global financial crisis. However, the prospects for midterm and long-term investment in Vietnam still are considered to be good by investors.

VIETNAM IN THE WORLD Vietnam ranked 3rd in middle-term development Kinh Te Do Thi – February, 2009

Vietnam is ranked 3rd in terms of development prospect in the mid-term, which is one of the surveying results of the operation situation of 620 Japanese companies in foreign countries in 2008 conducted by Japanese International Cooperation Bank (JBIC) and presented at the Ministry of Planning and Investment on 11th February. Despite being ranked 3rd in terms of the development prospect for the business & production activities in the middle term (after China and India), the rate of supporting Vietnam has decreased as compared to 2007. The reasons why Vietnam has been highly appreciated include the good location for investment diversification, the low labor cost, the good development ability of the domestic market and the available supplies for the assembling industry. However, the problems that have still hindered the investment into Vietnam include the poor infrastructure development, difficulties in keeping the leaders of the companies and technicians / engineers, increasing labor costs, and the weak system of law enforcement. The fields that Japanese companies have been interested in when investing in Vietnam includes electrical / electronics appliances, automotive, general machinery and chemicals.

PROPERTIES ON THE WORLD Hong Kong real estate market begins to prosper Property-Report

From the beginning of the year up to now, the segment of the high-grade houses at Hong Kong real estate market has been seeing positive changes. The liquidity of the market has become higher in the first months of the year and reached the peak for over half of the last year. According to Centaline Property Agency Ltd, the enterprises specializing in the high-grade residential area in Hong Kong, the number of successful transactions has increased by about 31% as compared to December 2008 and the value of the signed contracts has risen by around 9%, reaching 2.7 billion Hong Kong dollars (or about 348 million USD). This has been the highest earnings from July, 2008. The price of a high-class is priced at 10 million Hong Kong dollars. The analysis specialist at Jones Lang LaSalle consulting company has said that the shortage of supply and the low prices are the basic reasons behind the positive changes in the segment of high-grade apartment in Hong Kong. However, it is still too early to determine whether the luxury home segment has become stable or not.

REAL ESTATE AGENTS ThuDuc House invests in real estate in US Nguoi Lao Dong – 21 Feb, 2009

ThuDuc House Development JSC (Thu Duc House) has been licensed by the Ministry of Planning -Investment with the total investment of 6 million USD in a house business project in the U.S. ThuDuc House has cooperated with a number of the partners in the U.S. to establish ThuDuc House Company Property Ventures LLC that specializes in investment, development and trading the housing projects and other real estate projects in California, Missisippi and the neighboring states.

Nam Cuong raises selling prices of Tay Do villa VietRees – 24 Feb, 2009

Nam Cuong Group has shown that the apartment project Hoang Quoc Viet Residential in Co Nhue, Tu Liem district, Ha Noi has been started to be sold. Previously, the corporation also informed that it would increase the selling price of Tay Do villa, terraced houses in Do Nghia trade center - new urban area Duong Noi by 5 - 20%, which is applied on 1st March 2009. The contracts signed before 01/03/2009 have still applied the old prices and payment methods.

ACBR opens real estate market at Ha Noi Ha Noi Moi – 26 Feb, 2009

Real Estate JSB belonging to Asia Commercial Bank (ACBR) held an opening ceremony for ACB real estate transaction center and Asian One Member Real Estate Valuation Company Limited (AREV) on the morning of 26th February 2009 at 365 - 367 Hoang Quoc Viet Street, Cau Giay District, Hanoi on a site of over 190m2. In addition to the services such as advertising, brokerage, project marketing, legal formalities of land law, market research and real estate investment consulting in Vietnam, transaction center ACB - Hanoi, another function of ACB – Hanoi transaction center is to communicate the information of projects in Ho Chi Minh City to customers in the North. This is the sixth transaction center of ACBR in the country.


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CBRE markets BIDV tower Kinh Te Do Thi – 26 Feb, 2009

On 26th February, 2009, BIDV Tower Joint Venture Co., Ltd and CB Richard Ellis Vietnam held a ceremony to sign the exclusive marketing contract and introduce the office tower BIDV of 25 storeys on Tran Quang Khai street, Hanoi city. Besides the office area for lease at the ground floor, the tower also has a bank, coffee shop, meeting room at the 25th storey and the basement that is a large car park. It is expected that BIDV towers will come into operation in November, 2009 with the rent of about 70 USD/m2 (including VAT and service charge).

Vina House real estate transaction center opened VietRees – 26 Feb, 2009

On the morning of 26th February 2009, Joint Stock Commercial real estate and Binh Chanh District has opened the real estate transaction center in the Vina 270 - 272 Lanh Binh Thang, Ward 13, District 11, Ho Chi Minh City. Because the transaction center is a member of Saigon real estate corporation should fully distribute the real estate products of most of the members belonging to the corporation. In addition, Vina officiallydistributes the products of many real estate business companies such as BCCI, Lu Gia mechanical electric Co.

Phu My Hung offers the 2nd stage of Riverside Residence for sale Ha Noi Moi – 27 Feb, 2009

According to Phu My Hung Corporation, on 1st March 2009, the company will continue to offer the second-phase apartments of Block A, Riverside Residence project, District 7, HCM City. The 18-storey building including 158 apartments will be sold at the prices of from 37 million VND/m2 and upwards. It is expected to hand over the houses at the end of 2010. There have now been 11 banks that will support the customers when they buy Riverside Residence apartments.

REAL ESTATE LEGISLATION Paying the compensation and supporting money when being assigned or leasing land Thoi bao Kinh te Viet Nam – 21 Feb, 2009

According to the latest decree draft on the land problems that Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has just submitted to the Government, the new regulations on land price, planning for use, reclamation, compensation, support and resettlement will be amended and supplemented in order to suit the current conditions as well as create the equality in terms of business between investors. For the land prices, the draft stipulates that when the government sells or leases the land, at the time of submitting money for using land or signing the land lease contracts, the land price should be redefined in the case of the real land prices increasing or decreasing as compared to the annually announced price list. Determining the specific prices will be assigned to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment to be implemented and submitted to the People's Committee at the provincial level for their decision. In addition, to ensure the equality between the domestic and foreign investors, the draft stipulates that: when the State hands over the land that is collected the money for land using or leasing shall pay the compensation, support, resettlement and costs for implementing the works in advance. The advance payment is deducted from the money for land using and leasing that is obliged to be submitted. For the forms of supporting the resettlement, the draft stipulates that those whose land is reclaimed shall be supported in changing their occupations by being trained at vocational schools instead of being assigned the land to do production business or to live on. For those who are supported in changing their careers, if they do not have demands for learning at the vocational school and can find their own jobs, they are entitled to receive the supporting money.

Clearly write down public or private ownership when buying and selling apartments Tuoi Tre – 26 Feb, 2009

On 25th February, 2009, Ministry of Construction promulgated the circular on granting the certificates of house ownership and providing the guidelines on the contract samples of buying and selling apartment buildings in projects of organizations trading in dwelling houses. Accordingly, the contracts of buying and selling apartments must include the following contents: fully state the areas belonging to private ownership of the buyers, the areas belonging to the ownership of the apartment buildings; clearly write down the maintenance and operation costs of the apartment buildings, the estimates for the costs paid for the management activities of the apartment buildings, the principles of adjusting costs, etc. The area of the apartment is written following the apartment floor area, including the area of balcony and loggia of the apartment building (if any); the floor area of apartment and how to calculate the floor area shall be clearly stated in the contract of buying and selling apartments. The agencies that grant the certificates of house ownership are responsible for completing the procedures for granting the certificates of apartment ownerships and apartment buildings within 30 days after receiving the valid documents.

In HCMC: land area after being separated should be at least 36m2 Phap Luat – 26 Feb, 2009

On 25th February 2009, HCM City People's Committee promulgated the Decision 19 on the minimum land areas after separation. In the inner areas (including districts 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 11 and Go Vap, Binh Thanh, Phu Nhuan, Tan Binh districts), the land area for living on which there has been no house shall be at least 50m2 after being separated and substracting the building lines and its frontage shall not be below 4m in width. The land area with existing houses shall be at least 45m2 (at the roads having building lines of over 20m) and at least 36m2 (at the roads having building lines of below 20m) after separation. With regard to the outskirts (including district 2, 7, 9, 12 and Tan Binh, Tan Phu, Thu Duc districts and the towns and areas of the suburban districts planned for the urbanization), the land area after separation shall be 80m2 (for the areas without houses) and at least 50m2 (for the areas with houses) and the width of their frontages shall not be below 4m. As for the remaining suburban districts (Binh Chanh, Cu Chi, Hoc Mon, Nha Be, Can Gio, excepting the towns and areas of the suburban districts which are planned for the urbanization), the land areas for living on which there has been no house shall be at least 120m2 after separation and the width of their frontages shall not be not less than 7m. The land area with existing houses shall be at least 80m2 after separation and the width of their frontages shall not be less than 5m.


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Websites of real estate companies in Vietnam Property developers

Ho Chi Minh Company 585 - www.585.com.vn Company 584 - www.congty584.com.vn An Phu - www.anphugroup.vn BCCI - www.bcci.com.vn Daewon - www.daewon.vn Him Lam - www.himlam.com Hoang Anh Gia Lai - www.hagl.com.vn Linh Phong Conic - www.conic.com.vn Nam Long - www.namlongvn.com Phu Long - www.phu-long.com.vn Phu Quoc Land - www.phuquocland.net SacomReal - www.sacomreal.com Sadeco - www.sadeco.com.vn Resco - www.rescovn.com Thai Thinh Capital - www.richlandhill.com.vn Thu Duc House - www.thuduchouse.com Phu My Hưng - www.phumyhung.com.vn Van Phat Hưng - www.vanphathung.com.vn Vietnam Land SSG - www.saigonpearl.com.vn

Ha Noi FPT Land - www.fpt-land.com C.E.O - www.ceoholdings.com.vn Gia Tue - www.giatue.com.vn HUD - www.hud.com.vn HDB Viet Nam - www.hdbgroup.com.vn Keangnam - www.eng.kne.co.kr Nam Cuong - www.namcuong.com.vn Song Hong Land - www.songhongland.com.vn Vinaconex - www.vinaconex.com.vn Vincom - www.vincom.com.vn Viet Hung - www.ecopark.com.vn

Other cities Becamex IDC - www.becamex.com.vn Biconsi - www.biconsi.com.vn Tuan Chau - www.tuanchau-halong.com.vn GNSVINA - www.cozyvill.com Company 579 - www.cecico579.com.vn Duc Manh - www.ducmanhco.com

Brokerage

Ho Chi Minh An Gia - www.angia.com.vn ACBR - www.acbr.com.vn Dat Xanh - www.datxanh.com.vn Dia Loi - www.nhadatdialoi.com.vn Dat Cat - www.datcat.com.vn FICO - www.ficohome.com.vn Kim Son - www.kimson.com.vn Phuc Duc - www.phucduc.com Hung Phu - www.hungphunhadat.com Hung Thinh 2 - www.diaochungthinh.com.vn Hoang Quan - www.hoangquan.com.vn Intresco - www.intresco.com.vn Loc Dien - www.nhadatld.com Nova - www.novahomes.com.vn Phat Hung - www.phathung.com.vn SacomReal - www.sacomreal.com Tan Dien - www.tandien.com.vn

Ha Noi Cland - www.cland.com.vn Dong Do - www.dongdobds.com Phu Thai Group - www.phuthaigroup.com Petrowaco - www.petrowaco.vn Petrolimex – www.pland.com.vn

Other cities Dieu Hien - www.dieuhien.com.vn Thien Loc - www.thienlocnhadat.com.vn

Research CBRE - www.cbrevietnam.com Savills Viet Nam - www.savills.com.vn VietRees - www.VietRees.com

Consulting CBRE - www.cbrevietnam.com Dong Duong - www.indochina-consulting.com Eden Real - www.edenreal.com Hop Nhat - www.uniland.com.vn Indochina Land - www.indochinacapital.com Long Gia Khang - www.longgiakhang.com Savills Viet Nam - www.savills.com.vn Vina Capital - www.vinacapital.com

Evaluation AREV - www.arev.com.vn Hoang Quan - www.thamdinhgia.com Vietland - www.thamdinhgia.com.vn VVFC - www.valuation.vn

Construction Ho Chi Minh CIC8 - www.cic8.com Coteccons - www.coteccons.com.vn Cosaco - www.cosaco.com.vn Hoa Binh - www.hoabinhcorporation.com Hai Thanh - www.haithanh.com.vn Toan Thinh Phat - www.toanthinhphat.com.vn

Ha Noi Constrexim - www.constrexim.com.vn Cavico - www.cavicovn.com HANCIC - www.hancic.com.vn HUD - www.hud.com.vn Incomex - www.incomex.vn

Architect and Interior Decoration Ho Chi Minh A2 Visualization - www.a2viz.com.vn Cat Moc - www.catmoc.com.vn Nha Vui - www.nhavui.com Nha Viet - www.nhavietdecor.com Nha Dep - www.nhadep.com.vn Pho Xinh - www.phoxinh.com.vn

Ha Noi ACT - www.act.com.vn ADKientruc - www.adkientruc.com Ashui – www.ashui.com Kien Truc Ha Noi - www.kientruchn.com

Other Countries Architects 61, Sing - www.a61.com.sg DP Architects, Sing - www.dpa.com.sg SWA, USA - www.swavietnam.com Ong&Ong, Sing - www.ong-ong.com RSP Vietnam, Sing - www.resp.com.sg Surbana Vietnam, Sing - www.surbana.com


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REAL ESTATE PROJECT AND PRICES Hue: reserve 130,000m2 for housing development Phap Luat – 22 Feb, 2009

Thua Thien Hue People's Committee has just approved the project of developing the social, civil service and resettlement temporary residences in the city with the total land fund of 133,400m2. In which, the land fund for building social houses is over 71,000m2 (including the planned area for resettlement Huong So, Western residential area, the planned residential area on Highway 1A - Tu Duc). The land fund for the development of resettlement and temporary residence is 60,300m2 (including the projects of housing area in Bai Dau, the planned residential area on Highway 1A - Tu Duc, the planned area in the heart of the South and the planned area for resettlement Huong So).

Ha Noi: Building 400 low-price apartments at Xa La urban area, Ha Dong VietRees – 24 Feb, 2009

The management board of Xa La new urban area, Ha Dong, Hanoi has just started the construction of the trade center and apartments with 25 storeys for low-income people. In which, there are 45 apartments with the sizes of 40 - 60 m2 and the average prices of 400 - 600 million VND/unit. The project is invested by the Lai Chau No. 1 Construction Company and is expected to be completed in the middle of 2010.

Ha Noi: One more housing complex at Trung Van commune, Tu Liem suburban district Kinh Te Do Thi – 25 Feb, 2009

Infrastructure Construction and Transport Investment JSC has said that it would start the project of office area, public services and houses in Trung Van Commune, Tu Liem District, Hanoi City at the beginning of March, 2009. The project has a total investment of 523 billion and is located on a site of 23,829 m2. This is a multi use complex including an office area, public services, a housing area including 11 storeys to serve the resettlement need, a housing area of 25 storeys and the low-rise housing area. Each building has an area for public and trading services. It is expected that the low-rise housing area will be completed and handed over at the end of 2009. In 2010 the high-rise apartment block will be completed and handed over. In the middle of 2011, the entire project will be completed.

Ha Noi: Works start on housing policy at Bac Linh Dam urban area VietRees – 27 Feb, 2009

On the morning of 26th February 2009, the urban area Bac Linh Dam, Hanoi Department of Construction Hanoi has started the project of building houses serving the site clearance and the other objects belonging to Hanoi city policy. The project is located on a site of 6,000m2, including 3 bay blocks of 12 - 15 storeys with a total of 185 apartments. Floor 1 is used for public services, floor 2 is for parking and from floor 3 upwards are 185 apartments with the sizes of from 48 to 87m2/unit. The total investment is 144 billion VND.

In January, 2009, the prices of the high-grade apartments in HCM City to light VietRees – January, 2008

The price change level of high-grade apartments in HCMC

Announced prominent real estate developments during the last 2 weeks*

Week 3 February, 2009 Week 4 February, 2009

Ho Chi Minh City Nikko Saigon 5-star hotel (D.1)

Other cities Apartment area for low-income people (Da Nang) Van Tuong ecological urban area (Quang Ngai) Vietnam Delverton resort (Binh Thuan) Xuan Dam golf course (Hai Phong) Lang Viet 5-star tourism area (Hue)

The trade center & apartments with 25 storeys (Ha Noi) The complex in Trung Van Commune (Ha Noi) HA in the urban area Bac Linh Dam (Ha Noi)

* Note: RA=Residential Area, AP=Apartment Building, HA=Housing Area, RuA=Reurban Area, TA=Tourism Area, IA=Investment Area, UA=Urban Area, ReA=Resettlement area

Websites of properties in Vietnam

Ho Chi Minh Blooming Park - www.bloomingpark.com Saigon Paragon - www.saigonparagon.com Dragon City - www.dragonland.com.vn Preche - www.preche.com SaigonPearl - www.saigonpearl.com.vn V-Star - www.v-star.com.vn Time Square - www.timessquare.com.vn The Everrich - www.theeverrich.com Tan Da Court - www.tandacourt.com Lancaster - www.lancaster.com.vn The Vista - www.thevista.com.vn

Ha Noi Viglacera Tower - www.viglaceraland.vn My Dinh – Me Tri RA - www.sudicosd.com Bac An Khanh RA - www.vinaconex.com.vn Ha Noi Plaza Hotel - www.charmvit.co.kr Phap Van – Tu Hiep RA - www.hud.com.vn

Other cities Furama Resort - www.furamavietnam.com Sai Gon – Mui Ne Resort - www.saigonmuineresort.com Sunspa ResortVietnam - www.sunsparesortvietnam.com

Other cities Cozyvill - www.cozyvill.com Flamingo Dai Lai - www.flamingodailai.com Van Phu township - www.dothivanphu.com Dam Vac Golf - www.damvacgolf.com Sanctuary - http://sanctuary.com.vn Ho Tram Strip - www.hotramstrip.com Sai Gon Sunbay - www.ctc-corp.vn Eden Lagi Resort - www.edenreal.com Van Quan – Yen Phuc township - www.hud.com.vn Quoc Te Do Son - www.vietlandgroup.com


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Property Retail Price Updated on information from ACBR, Van Phat Hung, Hung Thinh, Phuc Duc, Tuoi Tre Newspaper and developers (VietRees gathered by direct surveys), listed prices can be original prices or transfer prices at current or at one week prior from the date this newsletter is issued.

Typical apartments in HCM city Other apartments and land lots

Cantavil, Dist.2 * 98m2 – 1,750 USD/m2

* 150m2 – 1,485 USD/m2

Riverside Residences Area: 81 – 477 m2

Price: 37 million VND/m2

Sky Garden , Dist.7 * 71m2 – 30 million VND/m2

* 91m2 – 28.4 million VND/m2

Blooming Park, Dist.2 Area: 95 – 398m2

Price: 1,800 – 2,400 USD/m2

Direct contact with the investor1

Phu My, Dist.7 * 83.6m2 – 21.5 million VND/m2


The Everich, Dist.11 * 112m2 – 1,700 USD/m2

* 150m2 – 1,675 USD/m2

Preche, Dist.2 * 147m2 – 2,222 USD/m2

Panorama, Dist.7 * 121m2 – 37.4 million VND/m2

Saigon Pearl, B.Thanh * 84m2 – 2,400 USD/m2

* 120m2 – 2,250 USD/m2

The Vista, Dist.2 * 101m2 – 1,625 USD/m2

* 135m2 – 1,525 USD/m2

New SaiGon, Nha Be * 89.9m2 – 18.1 million VND/m2


The Manor, B.Thanh * 80m2 – 1,910 USD/m2

* 101m2 – 2,150 USD/m2

Dist. Area (m2)

Price (million VND/m2) +/-

Apartment building – HCMC Central Garden 1 75.6 30 Landcaster 1 120 67.1 - An Cu 2 112 21.4 Binh Minh 2 108 15.8 + Constrexim 4 78.4 21.3 - Orient Apartment 4 71.7 21.5 - Hung Vuong Plaza 5 130 29.5 Phuc Thinh 5 69 23.9 Phu Loi 1 8 69 11.7 - Dat Phuong Nam BT 105 22.9 + PN Techcons PN 131 23.8 - The Mansion BC 101 10 Sunview TD 71 12.75 Development land lots – HCMC Dong Thu Thiem 2 120 13.6 + ADC Phu My 7 167 18 + An Thien Ly 9 110 9.6 Bac Rach Chiec 9 80 12.5 + Nam Long 9 90 11.7 Khang An 9 132 7.2 Cu xa Ngan Hang NB 286 16 Sadeco Phuoc Kieng NB 100 13.5 Thai Son 2 NB 150 7.5 Apartment building – Ha Noi

NO3 Dich Vong CG 62 19 + CT3 Vimexco CG 94 26.8 Thai Thinh DD 114 25.5 - B14 Kim Lien HBT 118 24.3 Xa La HD 65 11.7 Linh Dam HM 73 15.1 + Viet Hung LB 70 9 - Development land lots – Other provinces

My Phuoc 3 BD 150 1.58 + Hiep Thanh 1 BD 175 2.7 Lan Anh 2 BR-VT 135 2.25 - Tuan Hung BR-VT 90 3 Thien Loc CT 117.5 3.05 - KDC My Loi DNI 100 2.2 TCT XD Ha Noi DNI 100 2.3

1 Kien A Investment & Services Co., Ltd. - An Phu Ward, District 2, HCMC - Tel: (84.8) 3740 6688, Fax: (84.8) 3740 6949

Danang: 225 Huyen Tran Cong Chua - T: (84) 511 836 216 * HCMC: 390 Nguyen Cong Tru, D.1 - T: 8 821 7509 * Hanoi: No.6-1D Trung Yen New Town, Caugiay - T: 4 783 1598


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PROPERTY SUPPLY FOR DIFFERENT TARGETS OF CUSTOMERS

Social welfare houses for worker VietRees

* Saigon Construction Corporation investor two apartment blocks high 5-storey for workers in Quarter 1, Linh Trung Ward, Thu Duc Dist, HCMC. * Hung Vuong JSC has just put a 5-storey apartment building into use for cadres and workers. The company continues to petition Tien Giang Provincial People’s Committee to grant a 5.000m2 land area to construct more apartment buildings for workers with an investment of 100 billions VND. * Saigon Paper JSC has put an apartment building into use for workers at My Xuan Commune, Tan Thanh suburban district, Ba Ria - Vung Tau province. The stage 2 of the apartment building is about to be implemented with a scale of 8 storey. * Morning of August 28th, 2008, the Ministry of Construction has signed a memorandum for the cooperation in the field of welfare housing with Korean Ministry of Land-Traffic and Marine. * Ha Noi Construction Investment JSC (Hancic) has finished 4/10 units of the 5-storey house which belongs to the housing project for workers at Kim Chung Commune (Dong Anh). * Construction and Import-Export JSC (Vinaconex) has transferred and put into use 4 blocks of houses among the total 16 blocks of the housing project for the workers at Thang Long industrial zone. * The housing area of 7,000 m2 (380 rooms) for 1,500 workers of Dong Quang Knit Limited Company at Hai Son industrial cluster (Duc Hoa Ha commune, Duc Hoa suburban dist., Long An province) has just been put into use. The total investment cost of this housing area is 20 billion VND. (2nd Oct,2008) * The 4-storey apartment building at cluster 5, ward 8, Vinh Long town that serves the cadres, employees, professional serviceman and etc has been ratified by Vinh Long Provincial People's Committee with a total investment of over 37 billion VND. (3rd Oct,2008) * Hiep Phuoc accommodation and 1 apartment block in District 9 is reserved for over 1,600 workers in Hiep Phuoc industrial zone and hi-tech zones - Directed by HCMC People’s Committee (22th Jan, 2009). * 4 three-storey apartment blocks (204 rooms) reserved for nearly 1,000 workers in Ha Quang export garment factory and Tay Bac Dong Hoi industrial zone with the rent of 100,000 VND/ month/ person have been put into use after Lunar New Year – Quang Binh - Dai Phong Co., Ltd (4th Feb, 2009)

Real estate for the low income VietRees

* Sai Gon – Gia Dinh Real Estate Company and Hoa Binh Phu Yen Company build Thoi An Apartment Building in District 12 with 1,000 apartments. * Construction Co. No.8 (CIC8) will invest in construction of 10,000 Keppel Land apartments & Tien Phuoc Co. will build a resettlement area including 1,900 apartments at An Phu, Binh Khanh, District 2. * HCM City People’s Committee will advance 50.5 billion to carry out the project of Vinh Loc B, Binh Chanh residential area for resettlement with hundreds of townhouses and 40 apartment blocks. * Construction Co. No.5 will invest in construction of 500 apartments at Ward 22, Binh Thanh District. * HCM City Cooperative Alliance has developed its construction investment project of housing area at Le Minh Xuan Commune, Binh Chanh Suburban District on a site of 67.49 hectares. * 50% of the house reserve at The Splendor apartment area (Go Vap Dist.) will be intended to serve resettlement demand in the district. * Dat Lanh Co. will offer 1,500 apartments to the market with the prices of 500 - 700 millions VND/unit. * People‘s Committee of HCMC has approved the project of the resettlement area on a site of 55.24 hectares at Dong Nam Cu Chi industrial - residential area in Cu Chi. * House management of D.1 is assigned to construct the resettlement area at 7/4ª Kha Van Can, TD D. * In early 2010, Hai Thanh company will complete 352 apartments of Hai Thanh 1 resettlement area project, Binh Tan District for the civil servants at Binh Tan District. * People’s Committee of Binh Chanh has just cooperated with Hung Vuong university Investment & Development JSC to construct resettlement area at Tan Kien commune, Binh Chanh suburban district. * People’s Committee of HCM City has just licensed Cho Lon Real Estate JSC to invest in the construction of the apartment building at No. 99 Ben Binh Dong, ward 11, district 8 in order to make the house reserve at the social welfare housing program. * People’s Committee of HCM City has promulgated the decision about reclaiming the land areas at Phuoc Kien, Nhon Duc and Phuoc Loc communes, Nha Be suburban district for the construction of the resettlement area in order to serve the project of Nhon Duc - Phuoc Kien new urban area. * The HCM City Union of Housing Co-operatives has prepared to commence the construction of Thanh Loc apartment building with 238 apartments on a site of 6.600 m2 in District 12. The Union intends to construct another apartment building with over 200 apartments at Truong Tho ward, Thu Duc district. * HCMC People’s Committee has ratified the planning of Binh Khanh residential area (Dist.2) which is built on a site of 384,019 m2 to serve the resettlement of the locals in Thu Thiem new urban area. * Dat Xanh has cooperated with Truong Son Vanguard Youth General Squad to build apartments for low-income people at Dist.12 * Go Vap People’s Committee and Go Vap Public Benefit Service Co. have bought back the house reserve belonging to Phu Gia Hung high-end apartments, Duong Quang Ham Street, Ward 15, Go Vap Dist. and Dong Hung Thuan 1, 2 apartment buildings, Dist. 12 to serve the resettlement of the locals at Tham Luong project - Ben Cat - Nuoc Len ditch. * Approximately 184,000 apartments belonging to the investment program in the construction of the social welfare houses in the stage of 2009 – 2015 with the total investment of about 49,000 billion VND have been submitted to the government for approval. (30th Sep, 2008) * 800 social welfare houses for lease - lease to purchase will be built at 19A and 21A plots, Viet Hung urban area in 2009, which have been ratified by The People’s Committee of Ha Noi City. (16th Oct, 2008) * 462 units of Khang Gia 3 apartment building (Go Vap Dist.) invested by Khang Gia Real Estate Investment – Development JSC will be used for the resettlement demands. (27th Oct, 2008). * Replacing 0.3 million m2 floor of the old apartment buildings in District 1, 4, 5, 11, Binh Thanh, Tan Binh, Tan Phu and building 4 apartment buildings: 107 Truong Dinh (Dist. 3), Soai Kinh Lam ( Dist. 5), Building B (plot Q), Nguyen Kim apartment building, Building B (plot B, C), Ngo Gia Tu apartment building- Department of Construction (Jan, 2009).


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Land prices in 2009 stipulated according to price list by the state Used as the basis to calculate the tax for using land; transferring land use right; calculating the money for land use and lease when handing over the land; leasing land without via auctioning land use right or inviting bids for projects using land; calculating the value of land use right when handing over the land without collecting land-use money of the organizations, individuals; determining the value of land use right and adding it to the asset value of the state-owned enterprises when they are equitized; calculating land-use value for compensation when the government reclaims land, etc. Edited by VietRees February, 2009

Ho Chi Minh City * Urban land: not exceeding 81 million VND/m2 * 2,700 road stretches/ routes have new prices, 675 sections/ routes keep the prices unchanged and 1,899 stretches/ routes have the prices adjusted. The land price can be adjusted not to exceed 20% as compared to the maximum price and the minimum price.

Can Tho * The highest price of 17.5 million VND/ m2 is for land on Hai Ba Trung street. * The highest land price is 6.5 million VND in Binh Thuy District.

Dong Thap * Urban land: the The highest price is 15 million VND/m2 in Sa Dec town and 14.4 million VND/m2 in Cao Lanh City. * The price list of urban land in 2009 has supplemented 46 new road routes and adjusted 147 road routes with the popular increase of 200,000 – 1 million VND/m2. Nha Trang * The highest price is 18 million VND/ m2 (equal to 2008’s prices) – the stretch from the South of Tran Phu bridge to Ana Madra hotel (position 1, road No.1, coefficient 1).

* The lowest price is 300,000 VND/m2 (position 5, road No.8, coeffient 1) Ha Noi * Price of land within the city: 2.5 - 67.5 million VND/m2. * Price of land in the towns: 1.5 - 16 million VND/m2. * Price of land in the rural area: 150,000 VND - 2.25 million VND/m2. Hai Phong * Urban land: the highest price is over 30 million VND/m2. * As compared to 2008, the land price has had an average increase of 30%. Especially, some areas such as Do Son, Duong Kinh, Cat Hai districts have the increases of 100 - 225%. Thua Thien Hue * The highest price is 26 million VND/m2. * The lowest price is 320,000 VND/m2. Nghệ An * Cua Lo and Thai Hoa towns: the highest price is 6.2 million VND/m2 and the lowest price is 50,000 VND/m2. * Vinh City: the highest price is 30 million VND/ m2 & the lowest price is 320,000 VND/m2.

CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL MARKET Both consumption and prices go down Edited by VietRees

Although the construction season has begun, the purchasing power of all types of materials on the market has dramatically decreased, even when the prices have declined. The consumption of the materials such as construction brick, facing brick, paint, wood floor, door, etc has plummeted. The brick manufacturers have offered the discounts of 10 - 30%. Regarding sanitation equipments, the prices have inconsiderably slid and there are many promotion programs or discounts on these products. In February 2009, the domestic cement price ranged from 830,000 to 860,000 VND/ton (for the cement type of PCB 30) and ranged from 1,060,000 to 1,139,000 VND/ton (for the cement type of PCB 40). The domestic steel price has continued to slightly decrease although the steel and iron consumption in February has gradually risen because the real estate market has shown signs of heating up. The steel consumption has seen some changes but with production capacity and the current volume of steel ingots and inventory, the domestic steel price has still been on the slight downturn. The rolled steel price at the factory of Vietnam Steel Corporation has continued to decline by 150,000 VND per ton as compared to the end of January, 2009, ranging from 10.85 to 10.95 million VND/ton (excluding V.A.T and transport costs). However, according to those who trade in construction materials, there is a strong possibility for the recovery of the market because the construction of dwelling houses is very much in demand. Because of the impacts of economic crisis, the market has leveled off in a few months. But, when the economy becomes stable, the prices of all types of construction materials will become more reasonable and many big and small works will be started.

STOCK MARKET Two bourses increase, VN-Index adds 3.21 points, HASTC-Index adds 1.86 points Edited by VietRees Chart Source: Vietstock Up to date: 27 Feb, 2009

* At the opening time of the market last week, the downward trend has still continued on the HCM bourse. Fairly many selling orders and floor-price matching have been implemented right from this stage, VN-Index has lost 2.78 points to close at 239.75 points. The total trading volume has reached over 1.2 million units. However, entering the consecutive order-matching phase, the transaction situation has become eventful. Since this is the last week, many investors have bravely collected shares and this has helped the transaction volume increase. VN-Index has also reversed it direction to increase by 1.82 pm points as compared to the previous session and close at 244.35 points. During the periodical trading time to determine the closing price, the situation has been very exciting. Ending the session, VN-Index has added a total of 3.21 points to close at 245.74 points. The total trading volume on the whole market has reached 11.3 million units worth 147.6 billion VND. After one trading week, VN-Index has had 2 upward sessions and 3 downward sessions. As compared to the last week, VN-Index has lost 6.83 points. The trading volume has averaged 10 million units per session. * At the Hanoi bourse, HASTC-Index has maintained the upturn when adding 1.86 points to close at 83.96 points. The total trading volume on the whole market has reached 4.6 million units worth 85.6billion VND. After one trading week, HASTC Index has had 4 upward sessions and 1 downward session. As compared to the last week, HASTC-Index has lost 0.24 points (from 84.2 points down to 83.96 points).


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REAL ESTATE MARKET FORECAST * Note: Information on market forecast is only updated every 4 periods (after one month) by VietRees – Feb, 2009

General trends on the HCMC market The situation of real estate transactions of apartments, town houses and project ground bases in January 2009 has continued to be gloomy although the prices have slightly decreased as compared to the previous months and some projects have even stopped reducing the prices. According to VietRees, the real estate prices in January have slightly declined because the bank interestrate has dropped and the construction materials prices have gradually become stable. The psychology of the market expects that the low interest rates will stimulate the individual investors to come back and this will somewhat impact on the prices listed on the market However, according to the analysis of VietRees, (1) Currently, most of the investors have lost the confidence in the stability of the market. (2) The prices of some apartment projects have still been very high. (3) Investors have been more experienced in assessing the projects and analyzing the market. (4) The market has had many choices and (5) been more careful in the transactions, as a result, surely, the prices will continue to decrease with the low amplitude in a short time.

Apartment market The supplies of the apartments belonging to the medium and low market segment have been fairly limited, there is almost no new product and the market has seen almost no changes as compared to the previous month. Most of the successful transactions focus on the customers with the real needs not the investment purposes. The prices of the high-grade apartments has only fallen by 1%, however they have had relatively few customers, especially in the Lunar New Year people take little interest in buying the high-grade apartments in this stage. It is predicted that the prices of the high-grade apartments may continue to slightly decrease in the next few months.

Project ground base market Although the prices of the ground bases have dropped, they have been so high to the people who have the real housing demand; so, the transactions are very few. If they have the real housing demand, they will choose to buy the apartments or town houses, not ground bases, therefore the transaction of ground bases has still been in dribs and drabs and even visibly stopped.

Real estate agents Through the survey of the real estate business marketing agents in the past time, VietRees has realized that these agents has cut down on staff and the marketing budget substantially due to the sluggishness of the market. However, at present, according to the latest observations, some agents have actually become aware of the importance of the marketing and the stiff competitions in the market. As a result, in the near future they will focus on strengthening, streamlining the structure and continue to invest in training personnel, improving the customer service, marketing the brand image with the more focused, strategic and methodical plans than before. This is the praiseworthy sign of the market. According to VietRees, the agents that have a tight budget for marketing, they should focus on exploiting online media channels properly to reduce the costs and still reach efficiency as expected. They should not completely stop the activities marketing the brand images and products. This is the trend of the sectors in the current economy.

Forecast in 2009 Under the growing impacts of the financial crisis and economic recession, the real estate market in Vietnam seems to be gloomier. VietRees has judged there is a faint possibility for the recovery of the market in 2009. In 2009 the market will have more difficulties than in 2008. Many real estate investors and speculators will cope with paying the bank debts but the property prices have seen no signs of recovery. According to VietRees, after Lunar New Year 2009, the real estate market will become an attractive playground for the investors with large capital and long-term investment strategies. The downward market will minimize the speculation situation and the market is in the hands of the buyers not the sellers as before. As a result, the potential real estate enterprises need to build long-term development strategies and positively work on the research and development, especially, seriously invest in the market research and research the customers; steadily develop step-by-step and avoid spreading the investment in this current difficult situation.

The coming investment trends for Vietnamese real estate enterprises

The trend of switching to investing in the development of the cheap and common houses to attract the majority of the customers is becoming more perceptible. Many enterprises are planning to promote their investment in the market segment. It is very promising that the people with the low & medium income will have many opportunities to get access to this supply. According to the studies of VietRees, the enterprises should invest in the apartments with the relative sizes of about 40 – 60 m2, good structure, relatively good materials and equipments (not need to be the high-grade ones) and the maximum selling price of 10 million VND/ m2. The apartment’s worth from 400,000 to 600,000 million VND/ unit will be able to attract more customers. The customers should be aimed at newly married couples, students, staff and civil servants who are living and working in HCMC. In fact, some foreign investors have been interested in this market segment. Therefore, the domestic investors should take quicker actions because according to VietRees, Vietnamese enterprises are likely to have more advantages than the foreigners in this market segment. VietRees, Feb 2009

Business

Vietnam Real Estate Newsletter - No. 71, Week 4 Feb, 2009