VietRees_Newsletter_51_Week1_Month10_Year08

Weekly Newsletter Vietnam Real Estate A51

Week 1, October

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.

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VietRees – Vietnam Real Estate www.VietRees.com Viet Nam Real Estate Newsletter A51 Page 2

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MARKET SITUATION

Construction sluggish in the peak season Lao Dong – 01 Oct, 2008

As compared with the bankruptcy danger in early 2008 resulting from price increases, basically, constructions have been executed after the effort of management offices in simplifying the formalities. However, lots of works have not found the “exit although the door is open”. The payment is slow while the financial resources of the contractors are very limited, the working capital is decreasing and the bank loan interest rate is rising. As a result, the more they borrow, the more they lose. Additionally, some contractors cannot get bank loans because they have not paid off the old loans. Real estate developments – a huge consumption of building materials – have seriously lacked capital to be implemented. The regulations on capital mobilization can be only executed after finishing the bases (for apartment buildings) and the infrastructures (for the urban areas whose land has been subdivided and offered for sale), which also makes the capital inflow halt. Many investors of apartment buildings who raised the capital of clients one or two years ago have been dragging out the construction process in expectation of new chances due to the increasing prices of building materials at the time of house handover to the clients. All of these reasons have leaded to the sluggishness of real estate developments at the same time. As usual, the dry seasons which are the greatest time for construction every year are also the most convenient time for contractors and building materials enterprises to do business. However, the dry season of the year 2008 has begun with incoherent tempos, which was warned at the beginning of the year due to the corollaries of the inflation.

Apartment buildings, apartments with popular prices best selling Bo Tai Nguyen-Moi Truong – 02 Oct, 2008

In Vietnam, the apartment market has still been assessed to show a great potential, more and more Vietnamese young people have had a tendency of living independently when getting married because they want to have a private life. Instead of choosing the land area for house building, 85% of the young people at the age of 30 – 45, most of who are civil servants have been interested in the apartment building areas with the popular prices of below 2,000 USD/m2. There are many reasons for their options including guaranteed security, pure environment, spacious entertainment areas, clean sanitation or the whole family can get together. On the other hand, currently, the apartment buildings have moderate prices to suit many pockets. People have considered the apartment buildings as accommodations not only the properties for accumulation. The criteria for choosing apartment buildings are increasingly focusing on quality, inside space, outside space and infrastructure of the area. From the beginning of the year until now, although the real estate market has seen a dramatical decline in purchasing power and prices, the apartments with average prices have still operated stably. In HCMC, there was 4 – 5 new projects offered to the market and occupied because they have met the real demands of the market in terms of size and price. A expert analyses that in the current market situation, real estate investors should look at the market segments of the products that have the quick and strong power consumption, and the important thing is offering suitable prices. Although the projects are getting farther and farther from the central areas, house buyers can accept them if the properties meet the requirements about quality, price, good service and convenience. The factors that Vietnamese people often pay attention to when buying houses are the security of the area and the distance from their houses to markets and schools. People are increasingly caring about conveniences, supporting services in the daily activities.

REAL ESTATE FOREIGN INVETSMENT

An American real estate company enters Vietnam market BDS & TS – 29 Sep, 2008

Coldwell Banker Vietnam Company, the 48th branch of Coldwell Banker – Mid-America Group has officially been opened and operated since September 26th, 2008. Coldwell Banker Vietnam has focused on the 3 main markets including real estate transaction, brokerage management, capital and investment services and real estate management services. The first partners of the company at Vietnam are Phuc Thien Long Company, Tam Viet Company, Amazing Company, FPT and etc. On this occasion, Coldwell Banker Vietnam and Dai Viet Corporation signed the contract for technology transfer and foundation of Coldwell Banker Dai Viet Real Estate JSC in the near future.

American Group invests in Quang Nam Dan Tri – 01 Oct, 2008

Dragon Beach Group Limited Company (including Tano Captial Co., LLC and Global C&D, INC –America Co.) has submitted Quang Nam Provincial People’s Committee the documents to ask for the licence of construction investment and the trading of Dragon Beach tourism site at Dien Duong commune, Dien Ban suburban district, Quang Nam province. The project includes ecotourism zones, complex entertainment areas, international conference centers, hotels, restaurants and etc on a site of 400 hectares with a total investment of 8 billion USD.


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

With only one investment project, Ninh Thuan province is leading in the list, accounting for 14,7% of the total registered capital. Despite being ranked 3rd, Ho Chi Minh City is the locality owning most projects.

VIETNAM IN THE WORLD

Vietnam - the most attractive new emerging market Tuoi Tre

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

Saigon Co-op makes investment cooperation in real estate projects Nguoi Lao Dong – 28 Sep, 2008

Saigon Co-op Investment Development (SCID) has cooperated with Construction Materials & Commercial Erection Company (BMC) to invest in trade centers – supermarkets according to the model of Co.opMart supermarket chain – BMC in the complex projects of houses, apartments and trade centers all over the country invested by BMC. It is scheduled that in the stage of 2009 – 2010, the trade centers and hotels at Ha Tinh, trading area and apartment building at Vinh city and BMC hotel at Cua Lo will be developed and traded. In HCMC, two companies with together develop BMC Hung Long apartment building area and high-grade villas at Huynh Tan Phat street, district 7 and a complex of commerce - apartment - service at 787 Luy Ban Bich street, Tan Phu district. Additionally, SCID has also cooperated with Phu Nhuan Company to develop the model of market -supermarket - trade center at Rach Mieu residential area, Phu Nhuan district with a total investment of 15 billion VND. This project is built on a site of 6,000 m2 with 3 floors; including the food market at the ground floor, the supermarket and the trade center at the first floor and the second floor. SCID plans to open the center for business operation in early 2009.

Van Khue urban area transfers the houses in the fourth quarter of 2008 TheSaiGonTimes – 01 Oct, 2008

Song Da – Thang Long JSC has shown that in the fourth quarter of 2008, the company will hand over 400 terraced apartments (belonging to the project of Van Khe new urban area, Ha Dong) to the customers that paid off in the first stage. The remaining apartments will be transfered in the end of the second quarter, 2009. At present, the transaction prices of the urban area varies 16 - 19 million VND/m2 according to the locations. The construction of the urban area has been commenced since July, 2007 and the total investment of the first stage is over 1,150 billion VND. In which, there are 832 terraced apartments, 94 villas, 5 blocks of apartment buildings, 1 trade center and 2 schools.

Thuduc House to establish a real estate transaction center VietRees – 02 Oct, 2008

Thu Duc Housing Development JSC (ThuDuc House) has shown that the real estate transaction center would be opened at 74 Pham Ngoc Thach street, ward 6, district 3, HCMC on October 29th, 2008 in oder to extend the operation network and enhance the quality of serving the customers. The real estate transaction center has operated in the fields relevant to real estate such as business, assessment, auction, consulting, advertisement, management and the other active conduct of business.

Ratifying the real estate investment project of Petro Vietnam VietRees – 02 Oct, 2008

Ministry of construction has ratified the investment policy of Vietnam Oil and Gas Group in the projects of real estate and infrastructure in Ca Mau province, including: commercial complex projects, office buildings for lease and the byway projects of Ca Mau city (the stretch of road from Tac Van St. to the T-junction of highway 63 and belt road 2).

C21 cooperates with Celadon International Ngưoi Lao Dong – 02 Oct, 2008

C21 has shown that they would change the name of Mom Da Chim Resort & Spa at Lagi commune, Binh Thuan province into Exotica Playa Resort because the company has just signed a management contract with Celadon International. C21 will invest 1 million USD to construct extra villas overlooking the sea, restaurants, sport areas under water in order to add more facilities for customers. C21 also develops the 70 billion VND investment to upgrade Exotica Playa of the second stage on a site of nearly 4 hectares next to the current Exotica Playa.


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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

Building a new urban at the foot of Prenn pass Tuoi Tre – 29 Sep, 2008

Lam Dong Provincial People’s Committee has licensed a big Australian corporation to invest in the construction of an urban area located right at the foot of Prenn pass, Hiep An commune, Duc Trong suburban district. The project is built on a site of 3,500 hectares with an expected total investment of 3.5 billion USD.

A high-end commercial service area at Binh Dinh Thanh Nien – 30 Sep, 2008

Binh Dinh Provincial People’s Committee has agreed to let out about 5 hectares at the location No.1, Quy Nhon – Song Cau tour and about 30 hectares at Vung Chua mountain side area to Kim Cuc Investment and Construction Co., Ltd. for their investment in the construction of commercial service area, high-end housing area and the landscape afforesting. The project is expected to be completed before 2013.

Constructing a sea ecotourism area in Hoi An Lao Dong – 03 Oct, 2008

On the morning of October 2rd, 2008, Vinpearl Tourism & Trading JSC and Hoi An Tourist- Investment JSC hold a ground breaking ceremony to commence the construction of 5-star ecotourism area with international standards at Cua Dai beach, Hoi An. The total investment of the project is over 300 billion VND. It is built on a site of over 70,000m2, including one 5-star hotel and 35 high-class villas. This tourism zone is expected to come into operation in late 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, September 2008 Week 1, October 2008

Ho Chi Minh City Thien Quy apartment buidling (Dist.1), Happy Plaza apartment building (Binh Chanh)

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

Prenn urban area (Lam Dong) Dragon Beach ecotourism site (Quang Nam) Vinpearl Hoi An tourism site (Hoi An)

Approved prominent real estate developments in HCM City*

September October

Housing, apartment, residential area 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)

No. 1 – 31 Calmette AP (Dist.1)

Office, commercial 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 * 105m2 – 31 million VND/m2 * 147m2 – 33 million VND/m2

V- star, Dist.7 * 97.56m2 - 17.5 million VND/m2 * 118m2 – 17 million VND/m2

Sky Garden 3, Dist.7 * 71m2 – 33.1 million VND/m2 * 200m2 – 34.5 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 * 83m2 – 24 million VND/m2 * 117.7m2 - 23.5 million VND/m2

The Everich, Dist.11 * 116m2 – 2,000 USD/m2 * 151m2 – 1,850 USD/m2

Preche, Dist.2 * 147m2 – 2,450 USD/m2

Panorama, Dist.7 * 121m2 – 38.8 million VND/m2

* 164m2 – 42.7 million VND/m2

Saigon Pearl, B.Thanh * 84m2 – 2,600USD/m2 * 140m2 – 2,250 USD/m2

The Vista, Dist.2 * 101m2 – 2,000 USD/m2 * 140m2 – 1,800 USD/m2

BMC Hung Long, Dist.7 * 102.8m2 - 22.47 million VND/m2 * 120m2 – 21.7 million VND/m2

The Manor, B.Thanh * 80.98m2 – 1,750 USD/m2 * 139.6m2 – 2,000 USD/m2

District

Area (m2)

Price (million VND/m2) +/-

Apartment building – HCMC BMC – Ben Chuong Duong 1 96 28 An Phu 2 50 11.5 - Fideco River View 2 138 28.8 - Screc Tower 3 81 25 Khanh Hoi 2 4 57 16.5 Hung Vuong 2 7 60 29.7 Hoang Thap – Trung Son 8 97.5 19.2 Thuan Viet 11 98 25.6 + Thai An 1 12 73 13.5 Nam An BTH 67.5 20.7 Botanic PN 120 30 Sunview Building TD 88.5 8 - Ruby Land TP 74.6 15.5 - Development land lots – HCMC An Phu – An Khanh 2 100 29 Thanh My Loi 2 126 35 + ADC – Phu My 7 100 22 An Phu Hung 7 88 24.5 Sadeco ven song 7 234 22 Nam Long 9 140 13 Codesco 12 150 5.8 Hai Yen BC 100 7.6 - Trung Son BC 100 37

Hong Linh NB 251 8 Apartment building - Ha Noi Dich Vong CG 174.5 22

Nam Trung Yen CG 88.4 17.5 - Vimexco CG 139 26.5 - Dai Kim HM 60 27.5 + Phap Van HM 63 12 -

The Manor TL 242 40.8 Thanh Xuan TX 100 14 + Development land lots – Other provinces My Phuoc 3 BD 300 1.6 - Tan Dong Hiep BD 100 4.6 Lan Anh 1 BR-VT 100 2.2 Long Toan 2 BR-VT 100 2.6 Nam Can Tho CT 120 3.5 HUD DNI 285 2.2 - Nam Long LA 64 3 -

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. * 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. (02/10/2008)

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 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. (30/09/2008)

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

Foreigners with at least 1-year stay can own property in Vietnam Ha Noi Moi – 02 Oct, 2008

On October 1st, Ministry of Construction has petitioned the goverment to promulgate the decree that provides the guidelines on some articles of the Resolutions No.19/2008/QH with regard to the pilot scheme on allowing foreign organizations and individuals to own house in Vietnam, which will take effect from January 1st, 2009. Accordingly, there are 5 categories of foreigners elegible to buy houses in Vietnam. Passports or alternate papers are a must to certify foreign nationalities. If foreigners are investors, their names should be available on investment certification or corresponding papers issued by the authorized Vietnamese body. If the buyers deserve well of the country, they should have certificates, decorations or medals of merit awarded by the President. Those who get married to Vietnamese citizens should have certificates of marriage registration attached with Vietnamese passports or permanent residence and identity cards of the sides with Vietnamese nationality. Regarding enterprises with foreign capital, investment certification or corresponding papers issued by the authorized Vietnamese body with at-least-1 year duration. Foreigners should have cards of permanent residence or temporary residence issued by Ministry of Public Security if they do not belong to the subjects offered preferential treatment (except for diplomatic and consular representatives) according to Vietnamese regulations. In the case that they do not have the above two types of papers, they should present residence permit valid for at least 12 months. The duration for granting certificates of property ownership and land using rights is 30 days since the legal documents are fully submitted (including: identity certificate, conditions of property buying and owning, sales/purchase contracts, property inheritance certificates, property ownership certificates of sellers/giver, tax receipts, registration fees) to the Department of Construction at where the properties are located. Every foreigner is only allowed to buy 01 apartment. Any breach is fined 30% of the property value.


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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

Steel, iron and cement keep falling Edited by VietRees

The construction material market of the Southern region has begun to slow down. Currently, the purchasing power on the raw construction material market has dropped by 50% over the same period of the last year due to many reasons such as: the real estate market has been frozen; many projects have not yet been developed because of the capital shortage and etc. Addtionally, the consumption power of the interior equipment market has not seen any signs of optimism. One slight elements that have contributed to the decreases in the prices of these products is the transportation expenses have decreased following petrol. At present, the cement prices on the market have gone down by 2,000 – 4,000 VND/kg to stop at 68,000 – 70,000 VND/sack. Some agents have made an extra reduction of 1,000 – 2,000 VND/sack in order to stimulate the purchasing power of customers. Construction sand and stone of all types have also decreased by 20,000 VND/van, brick prices have decreased by 200 – 1,000 VND/brick. As compared with the peak in July, construction steel prices now have declined by 3 – 4 million VND/ton. The largest decreases have happened to the types of bar steel and rolled steel, from 21 million VND/ton down to 17.5 million VND/ton. Steel pipes, corrugated iron of all types have also dramatically dropped by 5,000 –20,000 VND/product. The steel market is expected to continue on the downturn in October. According to Vietnam Steel Association, the current volume of steel and steel ingots will be sufficient for the market in the entire fourth quarter. The steel consumption in September has ranged from 110,000 to 120,000/ton, with a over-50% decrease as compared with the early months of 2008. The steel consumption has seen a significant drop due to the slow purchasing power although the enterprises &factories have made many reducions in price.

STOCK MARKET

Market reverse but liquidity still low, Vn-Index and HaSTC-Index has lost 8.11 points and 0.94 points in turn Edited by VietRees Chart source: Vietstock Up to date: 03 Oct, 2008

The fact that the market trend is difficult to be well defined makes the transaction become more cautious. Ending the first stage session, VN-Index has lost 10.81 points to close at 449.44 points. The transactions continued to decrease dramatically with over 2.67 units worth 86.68 billions VND. In the first half of consecutive order-matching session, although the market has warmed up a little bit & the drop of VN-Index has become less strained; it is sometimes that VN-Index has gone down by below 1%. However, ending the second session, VN-Index has still lost 8.67 points (or 1.88%). The third phase has seen the slightest decrease. Yet, closing the session, VN-Index has lost 8.11 points (or 1.76 points) to mark at 452.14 points. The trading sessions on the market has been gloomy, the liquidity has declined with only 12.305 traded units worth 421.626 billion VND, continuing a 30% decrease in volume and value as compared with the previous session. Ending a week of transaction, Vn-Index has 4 downward sessions & a slight upward session. On Hanoi bourse, after reversing the direction with a slight increase in the middle of the session, HaSTC-Index has lost 0.94 points (or 0.61%) to close at 152.02 points. The total trading volume has reached 7.673 million shares worth 275.704 billion VND.

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