VietRees_Newsletter_50_Week4_Month09_Year08

Weekly Newsletter Vietnam Real Estate A50

Week 4, 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)

Vietnam in the world (p.3)

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 A50 Page 2

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MARKET SITUATION

High-grade offices in HCMC still lure customers Vneconomy – 23 Sep, 2008

According to a study, the segment of grade-A offices for rent in HCMC has still been growing strongly. In the third quarter of 2008, all grade-A offices have reached rental rates of nearly 100%. The main reason that helps the segment of grade-A offices for rent in HCMC still develop in a good condition is due to the fact that Vietnam continues to attract a high level of FDI and most of the enterprises with economic potential desire to lease high-grade offices to affirm their brand names. Additionally, the construction progress is slower than expected, which has cause a short supply of suitable office space. This is also why this segment remains attractive. The demand is higher than the supply, therefore, the rental prices of grade-A offices in HCMC have still been on the uptrend and averaged about 79.3 USD/m2/month until the end of the second quarter 2008. This price level has increased by 26% over the last quarter and 94% over the same period of the last year. In fact, the demand of leasing grade-A offices (renewing the existing leases or taking out new leases) in HCMC mainly comes from the foreign companies operating in the fields of finance, insurance, real estate, information technology and etc. And this demand has been forecasted to keep growing, but with a decreasing speed. Additionally, about 119,000 m2 for grade-B offices scheduled to be completed within the next 12 months will offer customers alternative options.

Land prices continue to go down Lao Dong – 24 Sep, 2008

After 2 months of being stabilized, HCMC land prices have continued to decrease by 500,000 VND –2,000,0000 VND/m2. However, the demand has not yet returned. Most projects that do not own favorable locations have fallen into significant price decreases, especially the projects in District 9. Projects of over 20 million VND/m2 from the beginning of 2008 until now have been 7 - 8 million VND/m2. Although land prices have dropped by over 60%, the purchase power has still not gone up. Addionally, real estate agents have also raised the commission from 1% to 2% in the situation of many difficulties in seeking customers. The middle grade projects that have sponged on the former real estate fever have to suffer non-stop price decreases. The prices of the projects with favorable locations have still remained fairly high although they have lost a half of their value as compared with the peak time. In early July, when real estate market had suddenly warmed up, the transaction figures have soared, many people believe that real estate prices have gone down to the bottom. Yet, till the early September, the real estate market has seen little difference from the first months of 2008. According to experts, the market in July began to warm up due to the trend of changing investment channel from securities into real estate. By and large, there have not been powerful-enough driving force to break the frost on the real estate market. In which, bank credit has been unable to show its important role. Although loan interest has been cut down, it is still too high and make it difficult to borrow money for the investments in real estate. Many experts say that the real estate market has little possibilities to recover before the end of 2009 & land prices will continue the trend of slowly adjusting to market trends.

REAL ESTATE FOREIGN INVETSMENT

One more high-end resort to appear in Da Nang VietRees – 22 Sep, 2008

Life Resorts (Holland) and Hoang Tra Tourism Company will develop the construction of the Da Nang Life Resort project along Da Nang beach. The project is built on a site of 4.5 hectares, including 182 rooms, 15 detached villas, restaurants, spas, body building clubs, casinos and conference center areas. The total investment is estimated to be approximately 25 million USD. The resort is expected to be put into use in the third quarter of 2009. Life Resorts group intends to develop other projects in Ninh Binh, Sapa and Ha Long.

Korea constructs a resort in Hai Phong Vnagency – 26 Sep,2008

On September 25th, 2008, Amco Mibaek Vina Co., Ltd ( Korea) started the construction of Song Gia Resort with a total investment of 580 million USD. It is built on a site of 637 hectares at Luu Kiem commune, Thuy Ngan suburban district, Hai Phong city. The project includes 27-hole golf courts, international hospitals, commercial areas, entertainment areas, villas, cluster of 5-star hotels etc. The first stage of this project is expected to be completed in 2010 and the whole-project will be completed in 2015.

Hai Phong attracts a lot of FDI into real estate Vneconomy – 22 Sep, 2008

Although the first 9 months of the year 2008 had not ended, the total registered investment of the new FDI projects and the FDI projects increasing their investment in Hai Phong City have reached 1.3 billion USD, five-fold increase as compared with the whole year 2007. The number of the projects investing in real estate, the construction of urban areas and buildings have accounted 70% of the total projects. This is the highest FDI of the city until now. In the previous years, it is industrial zones that have mainly lured FDI at Hai Phong. However, in 2008, the tendency of attracting FDI has focused on the real estate field, the construction of urban areas, modern buildings and offices for lease. From now to the late 2008, the city will execute to grant the investment license to 2 construction projects of industrial zones, urban areas and services in Hai An district. These two projects are invested by Singapore and Taiwan.


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List of the countries leading the investment in Vietnam until August, 2008 Source: General Statistics Office

In comparison with the last month, the order of countries/territories investing in Vietnam has still been unchanged. Most of the countries have increased the number of projects and investment as well. Only Brunai has not had any more project.

VIETNAM IN THE WORLD

Vietnam - the most attractive new emerging market Tuoi Tre – 23 Sep, 2008

Vietnam is seen as the most attractive new emerging market, topping the list of 10 tomorrow’s high growth according to the report on ”tomorrow’s market” revealed by UKTI (UK Trade and Investment organization). Accordingly, the next priority markets are Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, Ukraine, Indonesia, Singapore, Poland, South Africa, Argentina and Saudi Arabia. According to the report, among BRIC markets, China and India are chosen as investment destinations by most potential investors. Beyond the BRIC, Vietnam is shaping up as the most attractive new emerging market due to the low cost base and sizeable population in labour age. It shows that Vietnam begins to compete with China – the lowest-cost manufacturer at present. Although the remaining economies in the list may not compare with China and India in terms of population, they have made progress in market reforms, trade liberalization and governance – the important factors for investors to consider their investment.

REAL ESTATE AGENTS

Sky Garden 3 apartment is 27 million VND/m2 Nguoi Lao Dong – 20 Sep, 2008

In late September, 2008, Phu My Hung joint venture company will invite customers who decided their orders by lot to come and choose an apartment in Sky Garden 3 project, district 7 – the second stage. The company has also begun to collect money for capital contribution because the basement has been completed. Due to ups and downs on the market, Sky Garden 3 – the second stage has averaged about 27 million VND/m2. It is expected that there will be 2 or 3 banks financing customers in the purchase of Sky Garden 3 apartments – the second stage.

CBRE announces the selling prices of apartments at Vincom Park Place Kinh Te Do Thi – 21 Sep, 2008

CBRE Vietnam has just been authorized to exclusively market the Vincom Park Place (Vincom 2) project by Vincom Joint-Stock Company with 25 storeys at 114 Mai Hac De street, Hai Ba Trung district, Ha Noi. The project is expected to be completed and put into use in October, 2009. In the beginning of October, 2008, CBRE will officially offer the apartments of this project for sale with the average prices of approximately $3,600 USD/m2 for fully-furnished apartments.

HUD invests in projects abroad Vneconomy – 22 Sep, 2008

The Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUD) has signed a memorandum for the cooperation with Cuba’s Palmares Group to invest in the construction of a 36-hole golf court and a complex of tourism-service-dwellings in Colodera, Bauta town. These projects are built on a site of 300 –400 hectares. The two parties will establish a join-venture company to execute the projects. Additionally, HUD also registered with Cubanacan – the leading Tourism Group in Cuba in order to make a cooperative investment in a five-star hotel on a site of 9.22 hectares at Santa Lucia, Camaguey City. The third project is the cooperation with Gran Caribe to renovate the Capri hotel in La Habana City.

Toan My Gia real estate transaction center opened Xay Dung Paper – 24 Sep, 2008

In the morning of September 24th, 2008, AZ AMAZING has opened its new member - Toan My Gia Real Estate Co., Ltd (TMGREAL) - and officially opened Toan My Gia Real Estate transaction center at 37 Huynh Tinh Cua Street, Ward 8, District 3, HCM city. On this occasion, AZ-Amazing, Hoa Phat Land, CityLand, TMGREAL and Coldwell Banker Viet Nam also signed a contract for a comprehensive cooperation in the field of real estate business.

TDH invests in the housing business in America Vnagency – 26 Sep,2008

Thu Duc Housing Development JSC (TDH) is planning to implement the project of investment, development and trade for housing areas at California and Missisippi (America) with a total investment of 6 million USD. TDH will have a joint venture with another company based at California. Then, this joint venture will invest in the housing construction at Missisippi.

One more real estate transaction center opened Sai Gon Giai Phong – 26 Sep, 2008

February 25th, 2008 has inaugurated Saigonland standard real estate transaction center at 631 Le Hong Phong Street, Ward 10, District 10 on a site of 400 m2. The center includes full modern equipments with functions and services such as: real estate and assest brokerage, assessment and aution; construction design consultancy, legal-financial investment consultancy; training, practising, offering refresher courses to learners in terms of real estate.


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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

Three more high-rise apartment buildings at Co Nhue new urban area Kinh Te Do Thi – 22 Sep, 2008

Nam Cuong Group has implemented the construction of 3 high-rise apartment buildings at Co Nhue new urban area, Co Nhue commune, Tu Liem suburban district. The project includes CT1, CT2 building clusters of 13 storeys; CT3 building cluster (including four A, B, C, D buildings of from 15 to 18 storeys) with 680 apartments on a site of 90 – 250 m2. Each building is equipped with 3 elevators and 2 stairwells.

Dat Xanh invests in the apartments at District 12 VietRees – 23 Sep, 2008

Dat Xanh Real Estate Constructions and Service JSC has cooperated with Truong Son Vanguard Youth General Squad to build Thien Quy apartment project at Thanh Xuan ward, district 12, HCM city in order to make the reserve of house for the average income people. With a total investment of 157.5 billion VND, the project is located on a site of 6626.3 m2, including 14 storeys with 216 apartments of 50 – 110 m2. This project is designed by Saigon Auditing & Consulting Co. It is scheduled to be commenced in early November, 2008 and completed after 24 months. Thien Quy apartments are designed with the accompanying amenities: sport centers, trade centers, hospitals,kindergartens, parks and etc.

Starting construction of Happy Plaza apartment building Thanh Nien – 23 Sep, 2008

Thanh Tung private enetrepriese has chosen Binh Dinh Construction Company to be the contractor in charge of the pile drilling for the project Happy Plaza apartment building located at land plot A10, Tan kien Commune, Binh Chanh Suburban District, HCMC. The project is built on a site of nearly 1 hectare, including 2 buildings of 24 floors. In which, the ground floor and the mezzanine floor are used for trade and community activities. The remaining floors are used for apartments.

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 3, August 2008 Week 4, September 2008

Ho Chi Minh City Hong Thinh Villa Area (Nha Be), Saigon Center Financial Center (Dist.1), Tan Binh Trade Center, Tan Xuan Service Area (Hoc Mon)

Thien Quy apartment buidling (Dist.1), Happy Plaza apartment building (Binh Chanh)

Other Areas Mekong City new urban area (Vinh Long), JW Marriott Danang Resort (Da Nang)

Apartment cluster at Co Nhue urban area (Hanoi), Life Resort (DaNang), Song Gia Resort (HaiPhong)

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), Phuoc Thien RA (Dist.9), 99 Ben Binh Dong AP (Dist.8), Nhon Duc –Phuoc Kien RA (Nha Be)

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), Tan Binh commercial – service center (Tan Binh)

* 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 * 119.2m2 – 18 million VND/m2

Sky Garden 3, Dist.7 * 81m2 – 31.5 million VND/m2 * 161m2 – 28.3 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 * 82m2 – 23 million VND/m2 * 94m2 – 20.3 million VND/m2

The Everich, Dist.11 * 112m2 – 1,800 USD/m2 * 119m2 – 2,200 USD/m2

Preche, Dist.2 * 154.7m2 – 2,200 USD/m2

Panorama, Dist.7 * 121m2 – 41.3 million VND/m2

* 144m2 – 45.8 million VND/m2

Saigon Pearl, B.Thanh * 84.5m2 – 3,150 USD/m2 * 135m2 – 3,000 USD/m2

The Vista, Dist.2 * 135m2 – 1,700 USD/m2 * 142m2 – 2,100 USD/m2

BMC Hung Long, Dist.7 * 80m2 – 22 million VND/m2 * 102.6m2 – 21.8 million VND/m2

The Manor, B.Thanh * 98m2 – 2,700 USD/m2 * 124m2 – 3,000 USD/m2

District Area (m2)

Price (million VND/m2) +/-

Apartment building – HCMC The Lancaster 1 120 73.6 + An Phu 2 77.7 23.2 Fideco River View 2 138 33.6 H1 Hoang Dieu 4 70 25 Hung Vuong Plaza 5 130 35 + Grandview 7 118 44.8 Parkview 7 100 35 E-Home 9 60 16 + Green Building 9 92.8 22.4 Thuan Viet 11 77 24.9 Botanic PN 93 31.2 Sunview Building TD 88.5 10 Ruby Land TP 116 17 Development land lots – HCMC Thanh My Loi 2 200 16 + The ky 21 2 236 22 Him Lam – Kenh Te 7 100 36 + Nam Thong 2 7 144 58 Van Phat Hung 7 220.5 21 - Hai Yen BC 105 8.8 Kien Cuong BC 105 17 Phi Long BC 99 11.5 Sadeco – Phuoc Kieng NB 200 11 Apartment building - Ha Noi Dich Vong CG 84 20

Nam Trung Yen CG 66.2 19.6 Vimexco CG 96 27 Lang Ha DD 164 29 + Vincom Residence HBT 83 57.6

Dai Kim HM 122 14.5 Phap Van HM 93 13 + Development land lots – Other provinces My Phuoc 3 BD 300 1.9 + Vinh Phu 2 BD 143 6 Khang Linh BR-VT 80 5.4 + Lan Anh 5 BR-VT 100 2.5 HUD DNI 120 2.8 + Licogi DNI 240 2.8

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

* Saigon Construction Corporation investor two apartment blocks high 5-storey for workers in Quarter 1, Linh Trung Ward, Thu Duc Dist, HCMC. The is . * 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. * 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.

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 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. * People’s Committee of HCM City has just licensed Cho Lon Real Estate JSC to invest in the construction of the apartment buiding 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 Lanh 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 District and Dong Hung Thuan1, 2 apartment buildings (District 12) to serve the resettlement of the locals at Tham Luong project - Ben Cat - Nuoc Len ditch.

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.


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REAL ESTATE LEGISLATION

There must be supervisors for construction survey activities Ha Noi Moi - 23 Sep, 2008

According to the official document No.1912/BXD-HDXD that was promulgated by Ministry of Construction on September 22nd, 2008 and provides guidelines on the certificate of supervising construction survey activities, it is ruled that to manage the quality of construction works, the construction survey must be supervised constantly. The investors have to assign the people with suitable professional qualifications to supervise the construction survey activities. In the case of having no professionally qualified people, investors can hire the people to perform the supervision. Currently, the government has not had regulations on granting the certificates of supervising construction survey activities. However, the individuals who want to take part in the construction activities should have the qualifications or certificates suitable for the undertaken works. These qualifications or certificates should be issued by legal training centers. Therefore, the investors need to consider and assign (or hire) the professionally qualified people who are trained and experienced in the supervising tasks suitable for the undertaken works.

Legal capital is not needed for real estate service business? Phap Luat – 23 Sep, 2008

On September 22nd, 2008, the Ministry of Construction has sent Hanoi Department of Planning and Investment an official document No.1917/BXD – HDXD to provide guidelines on the operation conditions for real estate including real estate business and real estate service business. Accordingly, the enterprises that do real estate business should meet the conditions (regulated at the real estate business law and the Decree No. 153/2007/ ND-CP of the government) and have legal capital of 6 billion VND. Regarding the enterprises that do real estate service business (brokerage, assessment, consulting and etc), there is no regulation on legal capital. These are legal foundations for Hanoi Department of Planning and Investment as well as other functional organizations to consider and answer the queries of the investors...


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

General trends on HCM market In general, the situation of real estate transactions in August is slowler than July due to the psychology of keeping off buying houses in lunar July. However, selling prices have come back to the uptrend. Customers have more and more options to buy the properties whose prices are getting closer to their real values. According to the surveys of VietRees at the brokerage centers and transaction centers in HCMC, most of them have had only fews customers in HCMC. However, the prices of the real estate advertised for sale have levelled off or seen a slight decrease of 2 - 5% as compared with the last month. This reason of this price increase has been explained that construction materials prices in the past period have gone up dramatically, inflation has risen, the actual incomes of the people have dropped and most importantly, the sellers have been expecting the recovery of the market; as a result; the prices have become higher. Increasing prices have been recorded at the projects in good locations and ensure the progresses of the construction (the investors are continuing construction) and especially at the projects in which the houses are about to be handed over or the infrastructures have been somewhat completed and the construction speed is prompt.

Apartment market The sale and purchase of apartments or house on an installment plan in August, 2008 has drawn interest from the buyers with real demands. Due to the fact that the banks have tightened real estate loans, many investors have flexibly implemented the way of selling houses on installment plans for many years to raise the capital for their projects. According to the recent market surveys of VietRees, in addition to the previous factors such as location, prices and convenient traffic; payment method and the money to pay in the first installment when purchasing project houses are also drawing a lot of interest from buyers. The apartments with small areas of 50 - 80 m2 and the value of below 600 - 800 million VND are seeing a sign of decreasing attraction. The reason is that the supply is significantly increasing while the inflation and the bank interest rates are rising sharply, therefore, the rent is not as high as the bank interest. Tenants now have more options than before. As a result, many apartments are left vacant because there is no tenant.

The market of project land plots Similarly to July, on the whole, land prices have seen no decline and in some cases increased. The sellers think that the situation has become less difficult and they will not accept any more loss. Therefore, they will not try to sell properties at all costs like before. Land prices of some projects located in Nha Be, Dist.2, Dist.7 have risen by 0.5 to 2 million VND/m2. Transactions have appeared on the market although they are much less than in the beginning of the year.

CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL MARKET

Prices of steel, iron and cement still continue to go down Edited by VietRees

In the past 2 weeks, the cement prices in HCMC and some Southern provinces have been seeing the signs of sluggishness, even the products of some firms have been decreasing by 1,000 – 2,000 VND/sack. The retail prices of Ha Tien 1 cement and Holcim cement are ranging from 68,000 – 70,000 VND/sack. However, the cement prices in some areas have come back to the uptrend, fluctuating between 68,000 and 73,000 VND/sack. At HCMC market, the construction steel prices continue to go down as compared with last week. Rolled steel Ø6, Ø8 is 17,000 VND/kg, falling by 500 VND/kg. Bar steel of all types have dropped by 4,000 –6,000 VND/bar. The steel and iron enterprises show that the prices of these commodities will continue to decline due to the fact that the purchasing power is still very weak although the steel factories have also reduced the steel prices by 700,000 – 800,000 VND/ton and the prices of steel ingots in the world have also dropped dramatically. In order to deal with those difficulties, on September 22nd, 2008, the Ministry of Finance has decided to reduce the export tax on steel ingots to 10% from 20%. However, Viet Nam Steel Association has just petitioned Prime Minister for a tax cut to 2% and the route down to 0%. According to the Association, although the export tax on steel ingots is at 0%, the steel ingots export of enterprises still suffer losses.

STOCK MARKET

Stocks on two bourses continue to thrive Edited by VietRees Chart source: Vietstock Up to date: 26 Sep, 2008

In the last session of the week, two bourses have continued to increase points significantly. Ending the first phase, VN-Index has rocketed by 19.83 points (or 4.22%) to close at 490.26 points with over 8 million traded units. The consecutive order-matching continues in an evenful atmosphere. However, the pressure of selling out have decreased the points of Vn-Index, ending the second phase. Vn-Index has added 14.07 points (or 2.99%) to close at 484.50 points with a significant increase in the total trading volume. Ending the session, Vn-Index has gone up by 13.38 points (or 2.84%) to close at 14.07 points (or 2.99%) to close at 483.81 points. In sum, after two consecutive weeks of decline, VN-Index has added a total 44.75 points (or 10.19%) as compared with the point-level at the end of the last week. The transaction on the whole market has been improved as compared with the session yesterday. The whole market has seen 22.350 traded units worth 874.114 billion VND with a 25% increase in the trading volume and value as compared with the previous session. At Hanoi bourse, HASTC – Index has increased by 3.27 points(or 2.08%) to close at 160.31 points. The transaction has seen a large number of 13.39 million traded shares with a turnover of 495.45 billion VND.

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