VietRees_Newsletter_47_Week1_Month09_Year08

Weekly Newsletter Vietnam Real Estate A47

Week 1, September

The first weekly electronic newsletter issued to registered members, approximately 100,000 reads per month

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Market situation (p.2)

Real estate foreign investment (p.2)

Real estate agents (p.3)

Websites of real estate companies in Vietnam (p.4)

Real estate projects and prices (p.5)

Real estate supply for customer groups (p.7)

Real estate legislation (p.8)

Real estate market forecast (p.9)

Construction material market last week (p.9)

Stock market last week (p.9)

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.

VietRees – Vietnam Real Estate www.VietRees.com Viet Nam Real Estate Newsletter A47 Page 2

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MARKET SITUATION A lack of retail premises before “zero hour” Vneconomy – 03 Sep, 2008

Although the “zero hour” of the retail business will be officially started in 4 months, the total area of retail business premises has been scanty. According to the current statistics, there are 15 trade centers that supply about 150,000 m2 in terms of premises for the retail market in HCMC. However, with the rapid growth of the retail market, this total area is insufficient to satisfy the current market. The preparation of a facility system for the retail market in Vietnam does not keep pace with the operation progress of the market. In the past, the productivity of leasing premises at trade centers, shopping areas has always reached over 94%, especially “hot” at the CBD. Additionally, a series of separate stores take advantage of townhouse frontages scattering under the big hotels such as Sheraton, Caravelle and etc. Untill late July 2008, the monthly rental of retail premises at the CBDs of HCMC has averaged from 65 –85 USD/m2/month and the highest monthly rent has gone up to 250 USD/m2/month. The monthly rent at the regions outside the CBDs is at the average level of 40 USD/m2/month. The highest monthly rent stays at the trade centers such as Diamond Plaza, Opera View, Parkson and etc. According to a recent survey, District 1 has been gathering most trade centers and shopping areas in HCMC, the next is District 5 and District 11 will be extended in the near future. And in the next 3 years, the supply of premises in HCMC will receive additional premises of approximately 350,000 m2.

Apartment building market is splitting Thanh Nien – 05 Sep, 2008

Currently, the situation of the apartment market in HCM has seen opposite movements. The prices of upscale projects have dropped dramatically and become more and more reasonable and competitive. In contrast, the prices of “middle-class” projects have been pushed up unreasonably. Saigon Pearl project is cited as an example. The average transaction price of Sai Gon Pearl was formerly 3,500 USD/m2 but as of now, it is being advertised for sale with the prices of 2,300 – 2,400 USD/m2. Meanwhile, prices of Phu My project (Dist.7) have soared up to 22 million VND/m2 from the level of 15 million VND/m2. Prices of New Sai Gon project have jumped from 18 million VND to 22 million VND/m2. These price levels are being bravely advertised for sale by many investors. The apartment market in HCMC has been seeing a clear split between the market share of high-class apartment and that of middle-class apartment. According to a real estate expert in HCMC, the prices of high-class apartments are becoming more reasonable because most of the transactions in this market share are speculations. Currently, most enterprises have fallen into the lack of capital, so the best way is to make little profit from sales of upscale products. Additionally, the supply of high-class apartments is becoming more abundant; the market is suddenly sluggish and consequently, most of projects are offering their products at the original prices. Regarding middle-class apartments, their prices have been constantly pushed up high because there are successful transactions from the people having real housing demands in some projects and many investors have taken advantage of this fact to push up the apartment prices higher. Due to the difficulties in capital, it is very difficult to have higher prices for apartments at this time. In the long term, the law of supply and demand will decide the prices reasonably. The rise in prices has just appeared in theory. In reality, the number of successful transactions is scarce

REAL ESTATE FOREIGN INVETSMENT

A new urban area to be constructed at Cau Treo border gate TheSaiGonTimes – 31 Aug, 2008

On August 26th, Ha Tinh Provincial People’s Committee and Jiseya Partners Company (Korea) signed a memorandum for the cooperation to develop a new industrial zone and a new urban area at Cau Treo international border gate economic zone with the total investment of approximately 1.2 billion USD.Jiseya Partners will establish a company with 100% foreign-owned capital in order to develop the industrial zone on a site of 100 hectares and the new urban area on a site of 400 hectares. Additionally, the company also constructs vocational schools and some other projects.

Real estate market lures Singaporean investors Vnagency – 24 Aug, 2008

Although there are many real estate projects in Vietnam, recently, many Singaporean investors are looking at long-term investment plans for Vietnam. Many investors have carefully studied the land laws, real estate development laws of Vietnam or they have visited Vietnam directly to learn about the market and seek investment partners. Means of communication in Singapore have been flooded with the information on the opportunities and investment environment in Vietnam, especially in HCMC. In the first 8 months of this year, Singapore has had 56 investment projects in Vietnam with the total registered capital of over 4 billions USD, ranking the 6th among 36 countries and territories investing in Vietnam. Additionally, the investors from other countries also have a very high opinion of the potentiality of Vietnam real estate market. According to an expert, in the near future, Vietnam will receive many projects from other Asian nations such as Malaysia, Korea, China, Japan and the investors from Europe and Middle East.


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List of the localities attracting most FDI until August, 2008 Source: General Statistics Office

Until August, 2008, Ba Ria –Vung Tau province, HCM City and Ha Tinh province have still been the leading localities in the list as compared with July. However, only HCMC has seen the increases in the number of projects and the total FDI.

FDI in the past 8 months: the registered capital up 416.4% Ha Noi Moi – 03 Sep, 2008

In August, 2008, the whole country had 118 licensed foreign-invested projects with the total registered capital of 1.8 billion USD, raising the total new-level projects (from the beginning of the year till August 22nd, 2008) up to 772 projects with the total registered capital of 46.3 billion USD, increasing by 416.4 % in terms of the registered capital over the same period last year. The newly-licensed projects mainly focus on the field of services with 23.6 billion USD (accounting for 51% of the total registered capital); industry and construction with 22.5 billion USD (accounting for 48.6% of the total registered capital); the agro-forestry and aquiculture with 200.9 million USD (accounting for nearly 0.4%). In which, Ba Ria - Vung Tau province is leading with the total registered capital of 9.3 billion USD (accounting for 20.2% of the total registered capital), the next is HCMC with 7.9 billion USD (accounting for 17.1%), Ha Tinh with 7.9 billion USD (accounting for 17%), Thanh Hoa with 6.2 billion USD (accounting for 13.4%), Phu Yen with 4.3 billion USD (accounting for 9.4%) and Kien Giang with 2.3 billion USD (accounting for 5%).

REAL ESTATE AGENTS

150 billion VND invested in Vinpearl Hoi An ecotourism area Tuoi Tre – 30 Aug, 2008

Quang Nam Provincial People’s Committee has decided to reclaim the land of Cu Lao Cham Investment Tourism Commercial JSC (due to the slow construction) and assigned it to Vinpearl Hoi An Tourism Investment JSC for their implementation of the project of Vinpearl Hoi An ecotourism area with the total investment of approximately 150 billion VND on a site of over 77.500 m2 at Cua Dai Ward, Hoi An City.

Ngan Long villa area to be inaugurated Thanh Nien – 31 Aug, 2008

Phu Long Real Estate JSC has prepared to open Ngan Long villa area which belongs to one part of the Dragon City project located on Nguyen Huu Tho street, Nha Be suburban district with the total investment of over one billion USD. The project includes 60 villas for living and for business operation as well. This project is scheduled to be officially inaugurated in the fourth quater of 2008.

Apartments at Nam Thong commercial area project to be officially advertised for sale VietRees – 01 Sep, 2008

Nam Thong commercial area is located in Nam Long new urban area – Tan Thuan Dong, District 7, HCMCity. This project is constructed by Nam Long Investment JSC. This project is the combination of homes and offices, each apartment has an area of 184m2 to over 300 m2. This commercial area is expected to be advertised for sale on September 6th, 2008.

Dieu Hien to develop real estate projects in HCMC BDS & TS – 01 Sep, 2008

Dieu Hien Group shows that they will start the construction of Binh An House 1 high-class apartment project with 15 storeys at 83 Nguyen Van Troi street, Phu Nhuan district in late 2008. The total investment is estimated to be over 300 billions VND. In early 2009, the company will continue to start the construction of Binh An House 2 at Cao Thang street, District 3. The project is 22-storey high, including high-class apartments, offices for lease and trade centers. The total investment is over 700 billions VND.

Investment in construction of the complex building at Tan Phu district VietRees – 03 Sep, 2008

People’s Committee of HCMC has licensed Saigon Trading Group to transfer the land-using purpose at No. 62 Tan Thanh street, Tan Thanh ward, Tan Phu district in order to invest in the construction of the complex building, including trade centers, offices for lease and apartments. The People’s Committee of HCMC has also approved the supplementary planning for the location at C6/27 Pham Hung, Binh Hung Commune, Binh Chanh suburban district and it will be used for operating a supermarket and a trade center. The group is the investor and directly doing business.

The construction planning of Thanh My Loi B residential area ratified VietRees – 05 Sep, 2008

The People’s Committee of HCMC has just ratified the construction planning of Thanh My Loi B residential area, Thanh My Loi Ward, District 2. The project is invested by Thanh Nien Xung Phong Construction and Investment Company (Cinco) with a total area of 178.84 hectares. The residential area includes infrastructure works to serve the needs of living, learning, working, sport and entertainment activities and etc. The population is planned to be 21,500 people and the constructions are planned to be 2 - 25 storey high.


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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 Tan Dien - www.tandien.com.vn Van Hung Phu - www.vanhungphu.com

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

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 Indochina Land - www.indochinacapital.com Long Gia Khang - www.longgiakhang.com Savills Viet Nam - www.savills.com.vn Vina Capital - www.vinacapital.com VietRees - www.VietRees.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 Le Do - www.model&more.com 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 No - www.kientruchn.com


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REAL ESTATE PROJECT AND PRICES

One more high-class urban area at Ben Tre Thanh Nien – 31 Aug, 2008

The project of Sao Mai high-class urban area is invested by Sao Mai – An Giang Investment and Construction JSC. The project is built on a site of 12.7 hectares at ward 7, Ben Tre town, including 670 terraced town-house bases of all types with the prices of over 3,100,000 VND/m2. Buyers paying over 50% of contract value right after signing the contract will be offered 7.5% - 13.5% discounts over the total contract value.

A new urban area at Can Tho VietRees – 01 Sep, 2008

The People’s Committee of Can Tho City has approved the project of My Hung modern urban area invested by Hong Loan Real Estate Trading and Construction JSC with a total area of 75 hectares. The project comprises multifunction urban areas, international hospitals, 5-star hotels, schools, parks,administrative areas, cultural activity areas... The construction of the project infrastructure is scheduled to be implemented in early 2009.

Constructing a 12-storey office building on Lieu Giai Street Ha Noi Moi – 01 Sep, 2008

On September 1st, 2008, the project of “trading head office for displaying and introducing products” invested by Dien Bien JSC was commenced at 4 Lieu Giai Street, Ba Dinh District, Ha Noi. This project is designed and consulted by Dong Duong Consultant Investment and Construction JSC with the total investment of approximately 53 billions VND. The 12-storey building has a total floor area of 4,200m2. This project is expected to be completed in October, 2009.

Phu My Hung oil & gas finance and commercial center TheSaiGonTimes – 03 Sep, 2008

Petro Capital and Infrastructure Investment JSC (Petroland) has started the construction of the 30-storey complex building at the finance and commercial center of Phu My Hung urban area on Tan Trao street, District 7, HCMC. The project is built on a site of 3,000 m2 with the investment of over 1,000 billion VND, including business areas, grade A offices for lease and 68 high-class apartments. The project is scheduled to be completed and put into operation in December, 2010.

High-grade apartments in HCMC, the percentage increases and decreases in apartment prices over the previous period (month) Prices are forecasted to see a slight increase of 2% in August, 2008 as compared with July, 2008 VietRees – Aug, 2008

Announced prominent real estate developments during the last 2 weeks* Week 4, August 2008 Week 1, September 2008

Ho Chi Minh City The Boat Club Residences (Dist.9) Petroland complex building (Dist.7), Complex building at Tan Thanh ward (Tan Phu), Binh An House 1 (Phu Nhuan 1), Binh An House 2 (Dist.3)

Other Areas Xuan Quang Plaza - Nam Long II Residential area (Can Tho), Bai Vong Resort Area (Kien Giang), Con Son Island Resort Area (TT-Hue), CT2 Complex (Ha Dong), An Phu Thinh Plaza (Binh Dinh)

Sao Mai high class UA (Ben Tre), My Hung modern UA (Can Tho), Vinpearl Hoi An ecotourism area (Hoi An), Lieu Giai Office building (Hanoi)

Approved prominent real estate developments in HCM City* August September

Housing, apartment, residential area Truong Thanh Ward – VietNam House HA (Dist.9), 7/4A Kha Van Can ReA (Thu Duc), 13E Phong Phu RA (Binh Chanh)

Phu Thuan Ward HA (Dist.7), Tan Kien Town ReA (Binh Chanh), Thanh My Loi B RA (Dist.2)

Office, commercial Hiep Phu Ward – Hiep Phu Gia Co. office building, 34-35 Ben Van Don complex (Dist.4), 89A Nguyen Dinh Chieu office building (Dist.3)

Tan Thanh Ward complex building (Tan Phu), C6/27 Pham Hung commercial center (Binh Chanh)

* 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

Estella, Dist.2 * 124.6m2 – 2,100 USD/m2

V- star, Dist.7 * 97.5m2 – 22 million VND/m2 * 119m2 – 16.8 million VND/m2

Sky Garden 3, Dist.7 * 71m2 – 32.7 million VND/m2 * 91m2 – 27.5 million VND/m2

Blooming Park, Dist.2 * 115m2 – 29 million VND/m2 * 135m2 – 31million VND/m2 Direct contact with the investor1

Phu My, Dist.7 * 82.1m2 – 23 million VND/m2 * 312m2 – 18 million VND/m2

The Everich, Dist.11 * 115m2 – 2,300 USD/m2 * 160m2 – 1,950 USD/m2

Preche, Dist.2 * 154.5m2 – 2,200 USD/m2

Panorama, Dist.7 * 144m2 – 42.7 million VND/m2

Saigon Pearl, B.Thanh * 133m2 – 3,000 USD/m2 * 136.5m2 – 2,900 USD/m2

The Vista, Dist.2 * 101m2 – 1,700 USD/m2 * 152m2 – 2,000 USD/m2

BMC Hung Long, Dist.7 * 79m2 – 19.5 million VND/m2 * 102m2 – 20.8 million VND/m2

The Manor, B.Thanh * 67.1m2 – 2,100 USD/m2 * 157m2 – 2,800 USD/m2

District Area (m2)

Price (million VND/m2) +/-

Apartment building – HCMC The Lancaster 1 120 76.8 An Khang 2 102 25.7 + Binh Minh 2 108.5 17.7 - Green Building 3 73 22.4 + Hung Vuong Plaza 5 121.6 35 My Vien 7 95 33.7 My Thuan 8 128.8 8 - Hoang Thap BCH 98.5 22 Le Thanh BTA 68.4 8.7 + Tan Tao BTA 91.11 9.3 - Cuu Long BTH 87 20.5 + Phu My Thuan NB 90 12.5 An Binh Plaza TD 54.5 9.9 Development land lots – HCMC An Phu – An Khanh 2 120 31 Dong Thu Thiem 2 108 11 - Eden 2 300 11.5 Binh Phu 2 6 75 30 An Phu Hung 7 72 26.5 Ba To 8 110 7.5 - Gia Hoa 9 200 10.5 +

Phuoc Long 9 300 9 Hai Yen BC 100 8.2 - Apartment building - Ha Noi Trung Hoa – Nhan Chinh CG 120 26

Vimexco CG 142 27.5

Viet Hung GL 81.4 8 - Mai Huong HBT 45 20

Dai Kim - Dinh Cong HM 55 17.2

Momota HM 90 20 Totosa HM 96 16.15

My Dinh 1 TL 93 15.5 Development land lots – Other provinces My Phuoc 3 BD 300 3 + Vinh Phu 2 BD 143 5.8 - Thanh Binh BR-VT 301.3 10.5 Nam Long CT 114 5.5 Licogi 16 DNI 180 2.6 Long Hau 3 LA 116 5.5

1 Kien A Investment & Services Co., Ltd. - An Phu Ward, District 2, HCMC - Tel: (84.8) 740 6688, Fax: (84.8) 740 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 wefare houses for worker VietRees

* HCMC housing development fund has inaugurated a 5-storey apartment buidling for workers in Quarter 1, Linh Trung Ward, Thu Duc Dist, HCMC. The investor is Saigon Construction Corporation. * 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 storeys. * Morning of August 28th, 2008, the Ministry of Construction has signed a memorandom for the cooperation in the field of welfare housing with Korean Ministry of Land-Traffic and Marine.

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 55.24hectares at Dong Nam Cu Chi industrial - residential area in Cu Chi. * House management of Dist.1 is assigned to construct the resettlement area at 7/4ª Kha Van Can, Thu Duc district. * 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.

Dwellings for overseas Vietnamese and foreigners VietRees

The Committee for overseas Vietnamese in HCMC has showed that there have been 130 overseas Vietnamese buying houses, mainly in HCMC. Those who brought houses are those who come back to the country for their long term and direct investment, scientists, culture researchers invited to come back to the country to become experts and repatriating overseas Vietnamese. To buy houses, beside documents verifying priority subjects, the buyer must present their passport (issued in Vietnam). In the case that house buyers bring foreign passports, they must have certificates of Vietnamese nationality or documents confirming their losing Vietnamese nationality, or certificate of citizenship registration.


Free register for weekly newsletter: Please send your email to [email protected] * Sponsor and advestising: T: (08) 948 5574 - E: [email protected]

REAL ESTATE LEGISLATION

Realtors could be fined for avoiding trade centers Thanh Nien – 31 Aug, 2008

Imposing fines for breaches in real estate business is a completely new section in the draft decree amending the Decree 126/2004/ND-CP on levying fines for administrative breaches in construction activites that the Ministry of Construction is drafting. Accordingly, organizations or individuals would be fined 50 - 60 million VND if they sell, buy or rent the properties that are obligatory to be traded through trading centers without going through such centers. This fine level would also be levied on property transactions that violate the stipulated order and procedures or regulations on the properties traded through transaction center already. Fines of 60 – 70 million VND would be imposed on the real estate developers operating without business permits; trading unlicensed properties; violating the construction progress or the regulations on capital mobilization for investments in the construction of housing development projects. Beside the fines, the business permits of the violators could also be revoked. Fines of 70 - 80 million VND would be applied to the violations of the principles on real estate brokerage, assessment, management and trading centers operation. A 90 milllion VND fine will be applied to the developers or agents that fake certificates of real estate brokerage and assessment and the violators would be banned from operating in this field within 5 years from the date of punishment.

Construction Price Index in 2nd quarter, 2008 TheSaiGonTimes – 03 Sep, 2008

The Ministry of Construction has released the construction price index in the second quarter 2008 with the purpose of helping the investors and contractors to determine the total investments, cost estimates, payments and manage the construction expenditure. It is also the foundation for capital disbursement. The construction price index is categorized according to 3 areas (including Hanoi, Da Nang and HCMC) and 5 types of construction works (including civil construction works, industry works, traffic works, irrigational works/water conservancy projects and technological infrastructure works). This index shows the ups and downs in construction prices of works calculated according to construction material price index, labour prices and machine prices. The construction index proves a rapid increase in construction prices of works of all types, especially the types of civil constructions such as dwellings, head offices and hotels. Although this index has assessed the fluctuations in the costs of construction, equipment, project management, construction investment consultancy and some other expenses, it has not yet paid attention to some other important factors (if any) such as the expenses for ground clearance compensation and resettlement, expenses for the elaboration of the reports evaluating environment impacts and protection, expenses for hiring foreign consultancy, loan interest rates in the construction period (for the projects using loans), the working capital in the pilot-production period (for business or production projects) The Ministry of Construction also notes that it is needed to base on the features and requirements of the projects to add into the costs suitably when using these indexes to estimate the total investment.


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

Trend In general, transaction situation of apartments, townhouses and project land in July has been more satisfactory than the previous months. Although the sign of a warming market is less, transactions are coming back. Customers have many choices and a lot of time to consider when buying. Transactions have begun to appear on the market, but not as fast as before. At present and in the future, there may be not many investors, speculators or wholesalers like before. According to VietRees, the number of buyers for real needs will increase. However, due to the inabundance of real needs and finances, they will ponder on this matter. Therefore, the decision making process will take more time than before. There is a slight increase in market prices of projects that investors hasten the progress of infrastructure construction and apartment buildings which are about to be completed and put into use. Although the real estate market is still in a difficult period, some companies, individuals and investmentfunds still keep investing into properties, especially foreign investors.

Apartment market The apartment segment is warming again due to the large decrease in prices. Additionally, it is difficult for the prices to keep going down while the inflation and prices of construction material are becoming higher and higher. In July, prices of many projects stopped sliding, even with an price increase of 10% in some projects. Customers have not only focused on the apartments with prices of under 1 billion VND as previous months but also learned and really paid attention to high-grade apartments for different purposes, which has caused slight increases in prices of high class projects. In comparision with the previous month, the quantity of customers having a look at apartments of some high-end apartment projects that are about to be put into use in Phu My Hung has significantly increased. Some investors are aiming at the apartment projects on the point of being handed over to customers. These projects can be used for customers’occupancy immediately.

Project land market In general, the land price has stopped suddenly. Most sellers believe that the situation has had less difficulties, prices have gone down too much and they cannot afford to suffer any more losses, so, they have stopped reducing sale prices. Additionally, the majority of projects with price increases have well-built infrastructure, customers can receive land for housing construction and begin building at once. Many projects with substantial price increases are located adjacent to Phu My Hung urban area.

CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL MARKET Cement agents raise the import and cut the sale. Steel sales are sluggish but its prices are still high Edited by VietRees

In August, cement consumption has been slow due to heavy rains across large areas. Cement has seen an extra decrease of 2,000 - 4,000 VND/sack. Even so, Cement Ha Tien 1 JSC has still raised the prices by 5,000 VND/sack since September 1st, 2008, up to 65,000 VND/sack. Factories show that the outputwill be enough to meet the demand of the construction market in the remaining 4 months of this year. Prices of construction sand and stones of all types have fallen by 20,000 VND/van; bricks have gone down by 200 - 1,200 VND/brick. Expenses on transportation of construction material at some routes have also dropped by 15,000 - 20,000 VND/journey. Although steel prices have been reduced for 3 times by the enterprises in August, 2008, the transaction has still been gloomy due to the low purchasing power on the market. The most significant price decreases have happened to bar steel and rolled steel of all types from the pinnacle of 21 - 21.5 millions VND/ton to 17 – 17.5 milllions VND/ton. Types of iron, steel pipes and corrugated iron have also seen dramatic price decreases of 5,000 – 20,000 VND. The main cause is that prices of steel and steel embryo have dropped by 10 – 20% as compared with June. Currently, the enterprises have an inventory of 220,000 tons of finished steel and 400,000 tons of formerly imported steel embryo. The re-exporting of steel and steel embryo has stopped when the export tax rate has still remained at 20%. Regarding the domestic construction material market in the last months of this year, the experts show that there have been signs of price decreases since early August due to the fact that the supply is higher than the demand, the prices of oil fuel is low, the inventory of finished steel is large while many construction works are stagnating due to a shortage of funds and effects of crop factors.

STOCK MARKET

Securities Index on two trading floors have lost points Edited by VietRees Chart Source: Vietstock Up to date 05 Sep, 2008

Vn-Index has lost 11.9 points and slide out of 550 point-level. Meanwhile, HASTC-Index has also gone down by 5.73 points to end at 189.14 point-level. After a tough upward session, when opening the market in the morning of September 5th, HOSE has seen a majority of selling orders. VN-Index has decreased by 7.21 points as compared with the previous session, to end at 551.35 points. Entering the order-matching phase, Vn-Index has recorded an additonal decrease of 2.94 points as compared with the first phase, falling below the 550 point-level to end at 548.41 point-level. Ending the session, VN-Index has lost a total of 2.94 points to end at 546.66 points (equivalent to a decrease of 2.13%). The total trading volume on the whole market has reached over 22.7 units worth more than 900.3 billion VND. As a result, during 3 trading sessions after the National holiday, Vn-Index has recorded 2 upward sessions and 1 downward session. In sum, VN-Index has added 7.56 points this week. At Hanoi transaction centre, HASTC-Index has fallen by 5.73 points or 2.94% to end at 189.14 points. The total trading volume on the whole market has reached 16.7 units with the trading value of over 791.7 billion VND. With 3 trading sessions in the week, HASTC-Index has also recorded 2 upward sessions and 1 downward session. HASTC-Index has lost 3.29 points as compared with the last trading session of last week.

Business

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