VietRees_Newsletter_58_Week3_Month11_Year08

Weekly Newsletter Vietnam Real Estate A58

Week 3, November

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.3)

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.8)

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 A58 Page 2

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MARKET SITUATION

Real estate market: long- term and middle-term prospects

Kinh Te Do Thi – 16 Nov, 2008

The Vietnamese real estate market in the past has tended to decrease in both prices and the number of transactions. Currently, most of the capital resources of the enterprises investing in real estate are having difficulties. The volume of capital poured into the market has declined; the high bank interest has impacted on business operations and the supply/demand of real estate. That is the reason why although many transaction centers have changed into the trading floors in recent time, the transaction situation has not still seen any sign of prosperity. However, according to the experts, the current market for those who have real housing demands have still been hot. The market of real estate for tourism and industry continues to develop. The demand for middle class homes continues to show resistance. In Ho Chi Minh City, 4 to 5 new projects have been consumed because they have met the demands in terms of size and price. It is forecasted that within the next 10 - 15 years, the percentage of the urban residents will increase by 40 - 50%. Therefore, the demands for the middle-class houses will grow. Meanwhile, up to now, the real estate projects in Vietnam have only focused on the products of tourism properties, office, new urban areas and high-grade apartments and the market of the middle-class apartments with a large number of customers has still drawn little attention. According to some experts, although Vietnam is not a perfect market, it has the potential. Therefore, investing in the Vietnamese real estate market should not look at the real situation but aim at the things that will be obtained in the future.

Forecast retail premise area in Hanoi Vneconomy – 20 Nov, 2008

According to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, with over 60 million consumers, the consumption is expected to reach over 60 billion USD in 2010. To bring their products to the users, the retail enterprises have to use their own system. Therefore, the problem of premises location is always very important and is the first priority of the retail enterprises. Currently, many shoppers have chosen the trade centers instead of the traditional trade areas. According to a study, the supply of retail area has a total reserve of approximately 100,000 m2 in Hanoi. Most of them have been located in CBDs of Hoan Kiem District, Hai Ba Trung. The area of the trade centers in the CBDs is always fully occupied. The projects at other location have the occupancy rate of 90%. The rent at the CBDs will range from 65 - 150 USD/m2/month and about 25 - 60 USD/m2/month at other positions. As compared to some Asian big cities, the average rent in Hanoi is only higher than that of the premises in Bangkok capital (Thailand), Manila (Philippines) and Jakarta (Indonesia). In 2009 and 2010, with some new projects put into operation such as The Garden Lifestyle Mall, Plaza Hanoi Hotel, Yen So Park Shopping Centre, etc Hanoi will have an extra area of 41,000 m2 for rent per year. By 2011, this number is expected to increase by 330,000 m2 when the projects of Hanoi City Complex, Keangnam Hanoi Landmark, Savico Plaza Long Bien, Ciputra Mall Shopping open. In addition, the shortage of the modern retail positions will make the retailers continue to seek the premises on the main streets. Therefore, the retail positions in the central areas of Hanoi may be up to 110 USD/m2/month.

HCMC: Prices down, transaction still weak Thanh Nien – 21 Nov, 2008

Until the third quarter of 2008, the prices of ground bases and apartment buildings of many projects have dramatically decreased by 40 - 60% as compared to the beginning of the year. However, until this time, a large number of customers have still been afraid of being overcharged. At the end of September the price of ground bases and apartments have increased slightly. But from October until now the prices of the projects have continuously declined by 500 thousand - 2 million VND/m2. According to a real estate expert, the market has now seen the downward signs due to the capital difficulties. However, the level of price decreases will be not too much because the real estate prices in general have plummeted quite dramatically from the beginning of the year until now. The price decreases in the end of 2008 will make the market establish a new price level that is more stable until the middle of the next year. This is an opportunity for those who have real demands for choosing the properties suitable for their demands and budgets. However, the transaction on the market has still been very weak. The successful transactions have mainly focused on the fields of individual houses with a price level of below 1.5 billion VND, and some individual houses with the prices of over 5 billion VND have dropped by 10 - 15% as compared to the prices offered for sale due to the slow transaction. It can be seen that there has still been a shortage of liquidity on the current real estate market. The main reason is that the people with the real demands think that the real estate price are still high or they are waiting for further price decreases. The general psychology of the buyers is to “wait and see”. In fact, a series of projects were priced in the explosion time of the market. Therefore, the original prices at present have still been high as compared with the previous years when there was still the price fever.


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REAL ESTATE FOREIGN INVETSMENT

Localities attracting most FDI from the beginning of the year to Oct, 2008 Source: General Statistics Office

With Ca Na steel complex project invested in Ca Na Ninh Thuan by Malaysia and its total investment of nearly 9.8 billion USD, Ninh Thuan has been leading in attracting FDI. Ba Ria - Vung Tau has been pushed down to the second rank as compared to the previous month. Although Ho Chi Minh City ranks 3rd of the investment, it continues to attract the highest number of projects.

VIETNAM IN THE WORLD Vietnam ranked 3rd in attracting Asian businessmen Kinh Te Do Thi

According to the documents announced by Asia Business Council (ABC), Vietnam has been ranked third, before USA and only behind China and India in attracting Asian businessmen. In 2006, nearly 80% of the consulted businessmen stated that they invested in the Chinese market. But until 2007, this percentage has decreased by 64% and it has been only 61% in 2008. Conversely, the number of Asian businessmen investing in Vietnam in 2008 has increased by 28% as compared to 2007. ABC’s businessmen have explained that Vietnam and India have still maintained the attractively cheap salaries. In addition, after joining WTO in 2007, the Vietnamese economy has been much more open. Asia Business Council, established in 2001, locates the headquarters in Hong Kong and gathers nearly 70 businessmen representing for the industrial and commercial companies that mainly operate in Asia. Although ABC is an unofficial organization, the ideas that it has offered have drawn the considerable attention from businessmen.

REAL ESTATE AGENTS

Opening the 2nd real estate transaction center in Can Tho BDS & TS – 17 Nov, 2008

Dat Vang JSC has held the opening ceremony for Dat Vang real estate transaction center at No.118/15B Tran Van Kheo St., Cai Khe Ward, Can Tho City in order to meet the needs of the customers in real estate trading. This is the second real estate transaction center after the Hoang Quan real estate transaction center. Dat Vang Company has a wide range of activities, including real estate brokerage, civil construction, warehouse leasing, factories, car & motorbike selling and buying, import-export, garment ...

Construction of Dolphin Plaza building commences Ha Noi Moi – 18 Nov, 2008

On the morning of 18th Nov 2008, the joint venture company between TID JSC, Petrol Vietnam Finance Corporation (PVFC) and PVFC Land held a groundbreaking ceremony to start the construction of Dolphin Plaza high-level apartment and office complex at 28 Tran Binh St., Tu Liem, Ha Noi. The total area of the project is over 9,000 m2. With the investment of 600 billion VND, the project includes two towers of 25 storey connected with each other by 3 bottom floors of the Central Business District, surrounded by the public works such as swimming pool, entertainment areas, fitness centers ... It is expected to be completed and put into use in the end of 2011.

Thuy Tu project handed over to Trung Nam Group TheSaiGonTimes – 18 Nov, 2008

Da Nang city People's Committee has decided to reclaim Thuy Tu ecological urban area (Lien Chieu district, Hoa Vang suburban district) invested by Finance JSC and Business Development FBS (Gami Group). This project was handed over to Trung Nam Investment & Construction (Trungnam Group) by FBS after 5 years of not being implemented. The project includes the commercial areas, service areas, villas, high-grade apartments, hotels, international hospitals, international universities, cultural works... located on a large site of 340 hectares with total investment of over 1.6 billion USD. Trung Nam Group will start the first phase of from 2009 -2011. Then it will continue to invest in the second phase until 2015.

Construction at 302 Cau Giay scheduled for early 2009 Kinh Te Do Thi – 20, Nov 2008

Cau Giay Trading - Service Investment JSC shows that the procedures for the construction of the trading center, office and apartments at 302 Cau Giay invested by the company have been completed. They are preparing the stages the last to be officially started in early 2009. The project was built on a site of 10,200 m2, including two high-rise buildings with 25 stories and 30 stories. The 25-storey building is used to be the trading center and office for rent. The remaining building will be reserved for the service area and 232 apartments. The both buildings have 5 basements for parking and technical infrastructure.

Dong Duong real estate transaction center opened VietRees – 21, Nov 2008

On the morning of 21st Nov, 2008, Dong Duong Securities JSC has held the opening ceremony for Dong Duong real estate transaction center at 148-150-152 Nguyen Cong Tru Street, Nguyen Thai Binh Ward, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. At the opening ceremony, the transaction center will sign a distribution contract of the real estate managed by VIBank and the distribution contract of Boat Club Resident project with Viet Nam Houses JSC.


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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 Savills Viet Nam - www.savills.com.vn 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

Viglacera Land to build housing area in Bac Ninh Kinh Te Do Thi – 16 Nov, 2008

The housing area project in Yen Phong industrial zone, Yen Phong suburban district, Bac Ninh province on a site of 56 hectares will be invested by Viglacera Land. The project includes full items: houses for civil servants, apartment areas, service areas, schools, entertainment areas, supermarkets, sports complex, lakes, trees and full technical infrastructure... It is expected to be implemented at the end of the year 2008.

Resettlement area to be built in Thu Duc VietRees – 18 Nov, 2008

Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has assigned the Project Management Board of Thu Duc district to be the investor of the 6.8 hectare resettlement area, Linh Xuan ward, Thu Duc district to serve the construction project of Ho Chi Minh City National University. The Project Management Board of Thu Duc district will perform and complete the procedures for construction and investment, carry out the compensation and support for the resettlement in order to ensure that the project will be executed in April, 2009.

Works start on resettlement houses at Hoang Cau CAND – 19 Nov, 2008

On the morning of 18th Nov, 2008, Bach Dang company (belonging to General Department of Logistics CAND) has started the construction of the resettlement apartment building at 33 Ngo Gieng Street, Hoang Cau Ward, Dong Da district, Ha Noi for the families at 58 Tran Nhan Tong Street, Ha Noi. The building includes 11 storeys and 1 basement with 60 apartments which have the same technicalinfrastructures.

Works start on grade A offices in Hai Phong VietRees – 19 Nov, 2008

On the morning of 15th Nov 2008, Vietnam Petroleum Transport JSC (Vipco) officially started the construction of Vipco Tower project at 37 Phan Boi Chau Street, Hong Bang District, Hai Phong. The project is 25-storey high, including 3 basements and 1 technical storey. With a total investment of over 200 billions VND, the project is modernly designed to meet the standards of grade A offices for lease. It is expected to be completed and put into use in the middle of 2011. UBIK Architectural Design Company (France) is the consultant for the project’s design and the Civil & Industrial Construction Company DELTA (U.S.) is in charge of executing the project.

In general, the price of high-class apartments in Ho Chi Minh City have tended to keep going down after the slight increase in August Edited by VietRees – Nov, 2008

Announced prominent real estate developments during the last 2 weeks*

Week 2, October 2008 Week 3, November 2008

Ho Chi Minh City Resettlement Area at Linh Xuan ward (Thu Duc)

Other Areas Industrial - urban area North of Cam river (Hai Phong) Complex on Nguyen Van Cu Street (Can Tho)

Yen Phong Housing Area (Bac Ninh) Vipco Tower Office Building (Hai Phong) Hoang Cau Resettlement Area (Ha Noi)

Approved prominent real estate developments in HCM City*

October November

Housing, apartment, residential area Apartment building No.1 – No.31 Calmette Street (Dist.1) Resettlement area at Phu My Ward (Dist.7) An Phu Ward residential area (Dist.2) Housing area at Nhon Duc Province (Nha Be) Housing area at Dong Hung Thuan Ward (Dist.12)

Apartment building - offices at Binh Quoi (Binh Thanh) Apartment building at Phu Thuan Ward (Dist.7) Apartment building at Thao Dien Ward (Dist. 2)

Office, commercial Complex of Vietnam – Japan cultural park (Dist.2)

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

Websites of properties in Vietnam

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

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

Other cities

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

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


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

Typical apartments in HCM city Other apartments and land lots

Cantavil, Dist.2 * 98m2 – 1,950 USD/m2

* 120m2 – 2,050 USD/m2

V- star, Dist.7 * 97.56m2 - 15.8 million VND/m2

* 119m2 – 16 million VND/m2

Sky Garden , Dist.7 * 81m2 – 29 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 * 83.15m2 – 20 million VND/m2 * 91.41m2 – 19 million VND/m2

The Everich, Dist.11 * 115m2 – 1,700 USD/m2 * 151m2 – 1,800 USD/m2

Preche, Dist.2 * 154.56m2 – 2,560 USD/m2

Panorama, Dist.7 * 121m2 – 37.1million VND/m2

* 193m2 – 36.2 million VND/m2

Saigon Pearl, B.Thanh * 136m2 – 2,000 USD/m2

* 141m2 – 2,400 USD/m2

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

New SaiGon, Nha Be * 98.9m2 – 17 million VND/m2


The Manor, B.Thanh * 67.13m2 – 1,800 USD/m2

* 100m2 – 2,000 USD/m2

Dist. Area (m2)

Price (million VND/m2) +/-

Apartment building – HCMC Central Garden 1 81.9 30 The Lancaster 1 120 68 - The Estella 2 100 29.5 Binh Minh 2 109 15.7 - Orient Apartment 4 71 25.6 - Tan Da 5 102 30.8 Tan Thinh Loi 6 64.5 15 Phu Loi 1 8 74 10.7 - The Mansion BC 83 12 - Phu My Thuan NB 93.5 8.1 - Botanic PN 109.5 30.1 Phuc Yen TB 77 14.4 + SunView TD 73.5 10.1 - Khang Phu TP 79 14 + Development land lots – HCMC An Phu – An Khanh 2 200 34 + An Phu Hung 7 72 25.5 - Him Lam 7 100 50 Phong Phu 8 175.5 7.43 An Thien Ly 9 96.5 7.5 Gia Hoa 9 230 9.5 Lang Viet Kieu Phong Phu BC 100 11 Phu Long – Dragon City NB 140 13

Phu Xuan – Van Phat Hung NB 138 7.5 - Apartment building - Ha Noi M5 BD 149 29.5 - Dich Vong CG 62 19 - Trung Hoa – Nhan Chinh CG 236 26 + Trung Yen CG 62 20.5 - Thai Thinh DD 114 26 + My Dinh 1 TL 124 19.5 + Nang Huong TX 106 13.8 Development land lots – Other provinces Green Square BD 90 8.67 My Phuoc 3 BD 100 1.75 + Vinh Phu 2 BD 298 4.5 Lan Anh 2 BR-VT 100 1.6 Wind Hill BR-VT 180 4.15 - HUD DNI 100 1.3 - Licogi 16 DNI 240 3.5

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 welfare houses for worker VietRees

* Saigon Construction Corporation investor two apartment blocks high 5-storey for workers in Quarter 1, Linh Trung Ward, Thu Duc Dist, HCMC. * Hung Vuong JSC has just put a 5-storey apartment building into use for cadres and workers. The company continues to petition Tien Giang Provincial People’s Committee to grant a 5.000m2 land area to construct more apartment buildings for workers with an investment of 100 billions VND. * Saigon Paper JSC has put an apartment building into use for workers at My Xuan Commune, Tan Thanh suburban district, Ba Ria - Vung Tau province. The stage 2 of the apartment building is about to be implemented with a scale of 8 storey. * Morning of August 28th, 2008, the Ministry of Construction has signed a memorandum for the cooperation in the field of welfare housing with Korean Ministry of Land-Traffic and Marine. * Ha Noi Construction Investment JSC (Hancic) has finished 4/10 units of the 5-storey house which belongs to the housing project for workers at Kim Chung Commune (Dong Anh). * Construction and Import-Export JSC (Vinaconex) has transferred and put into use 4 blocks of houses among the total 16 blocks of the housing project for the workers at Thang Long industrial zone. * The housing area of 7,000 m2 (380 rooms) for 1,500 workers of Dong Quang Knit Limited Company at Hai Son industrial cluster (Duc Hoa Ha commune, Duc Hoa suburban dist., Long An province) has just been put into use. The total investment cost of this housing area is 20 billion VND. (02/10/2008) * The 4-storey apartment building at cluster 5, ward 8, Vinh Long town that serves the cadres, employees, professional serviceman and etc has been ratified by Vinh Long Provincial People's Committee with a total investment of over 37 billion VND. (03/10/2008)

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 building at No. 99 Ben Binh Dong, ward 11, district 8 in order to make the house reserve at the social welfare housing program. * People’s Committee of HCM City has promulgated the decision about reclaiming the land areas at Phuoc Kien, Nhon Duc and Phuoc Loc communes, Nha Be suburban district for the construction of the resettlement area in order to serve the project of Nhon Duc - Phuoc Kien new urban area. * The HCM City Union of Housing Co-operatives has prepared to commence the construction of Thanh Loc apartment building with 238 apartments on a site of 6.600 m2 in District 12. The Union intends to construct another apartment building with over 200 apartments at Truong Tho ward, Thu Duc district. * HCMC People’s Committee has ratified the planning of Binh Khanh residential area (Dist.2) which is built on a site of 384,019 m2 to serve the resettlement of the locals in Thu Thiem new urban area. * Dat 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) * 800 social welfare houses for lease - lease to purchase will be built at 19A and 21A plots, Viet Hung urban area in 2009, which have been ratified by The People’s Committee of Ha Noi City. (16/10/2008) * 462 units of Khang Gia 3 apartment building (Go Vap Dist.) invested by Khang Gia Real Estate Investment – Development JSC will be used for the resettlement demands. (27/10/2008)

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

Guidlines for checking construction quality before granting certificates An Ninh Thu Do – 18 Nov, 2008

The Ministry of Construction has just provided the guidelines on granting the construction work ownership certificates. Accordingly, the granting of construction work ownership certificates must comply with the regulations of the Decree 95/2005/ND-CP. In which, it is not obligatory to have the report of checking-and-taking over and the certificate of work quality. However, in the process of granting the certificates, if the authorities granting the certificates check and discover cases of the construction works not guaranteeing the quality, they have to notify the local construction management offices to monitor and require the units that directly manage the works to repair. Especially, the works that are badly damaged and in danger of losing safety must be settled in a timely manor.

Granting investment certificate to domestic investors removed Lao Dong – 20 Nov, 2008

On November 17th 2008, the Ministry of Construction has approved some suggestions and proposals of the Ha Noi city People's Committee for reforming the administrative formalities in the construction of the projects of new urban areas, housing areas and technology infrastructures of the industrial zones. Accordingly, for a site or an independent project that has an area of below 50 hectares (<200 hectares for the industrial zones) and no detailed planning at the scale of 1/2000, the local authorities can decide to allow the investors to set up the detailed planning at the scale of 1/500, depending on the features of the technology infrastructure works. The Ministry of Construction has also agreed with the petition of the city for removing the procedure of granting the investment certificates to the domestic investors.

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 The transaction situation of apartments, townhouses and project land in October has continued to go down compared to September and the previous months, the offered prices for sale have fallen after leveling off in October. The decrease in the land prices (- 5%) is somewhat higher than that of apartment prices (-1%, -2%) compared to the previous month. Generally, regarding the market situation in the third quarter and the fourth quarter, the prices seem more stable but the rate of successful transactions has still not seen any sign of prosperity and appeared to be worse to some extent. The number of successful transactions has been on the downturn. According to the surveys of VietRees, in many trading floors (transformed from the previous center transaction) and the newly born trading floors, the transactions have almost mainly focused on properties with low values such as projects of apartments and ground bases in the areas around HCMC. The townhouse transactions in the existing urban area have also significantly decreased as compared to many previous months due to the difficult situation of the real estate field and the whole economy. According to the forecasts of VietRees, many transaction centers will close down from now until late 2008 and early 2009.

Apartment market The supply of apartments belonging to the average and low segment is quite limited, so the market of this segment has also not seen any movement compared to the previous month. The successful apartment transactions do mainly belong to this segment. The investors are beginning to implement the new apartment projects of the average low segment, but in at least 2 years, the new market will have more supplies of the new apartments of this type. According to VietRees, the construction material prices in the past 2 months have declined, which has created favorable conditions for the investors to implement or speed up the construction progress of the projects, especially for this segment. The high-grade apartment prices have slightly decreased in the past month. According to VietRees, the prices have fallen down by approximately 2% as compared with September 2008. The domestic customers of this segment are gradually scaling down. The investors are looking for the new directions aiming at the Vietnamese overseas who are in need of buying houses in Vietnam. However, according to VietRees, there are many difficulties in approaching as well as successfully trading with this group of customers in the short term (1 - 2 years).

The market of project land plots According to VietRees, the land market has continued to decline as compared with September, 2008 and the average decrease is recorded at -5%. The price fluctuations are explained that the project land has a special connection with the ups and downs of the stock market and the interest of the investors when most of the project land is being held by the investors and there are few of the people who have real demands. Similarly to September, the successful transactions of the project land are much lower than that of the apartments which is currently quite limited.


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CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL MARKET

Gloomy construction season Edited by VietRees

Unlike the previous years, although the construction material prices in Ho Chi Minh City have continuously plummeted by 10 - 30% (by more than 50% in some areas), they have not been strong enough to stimulate the demands of the construction situation. Currently, the prices of steel 6 - 8 have gone down to 10.5 - 11 million/ ton from over 21.5 million VND/ ton in July. The streaked steel of all types have also continuously dropped by 20,000 - 50,000 VND/bar. The cement prices have also fallen into the sluggish situation, which has caused many agencies to reduce the selling prices down to below 1,000 - 2,000 VND/ sack as compared with the prices committed with the company. Two types of cement that have been significantly consumed (Ha Tien 1 and Holcim) have also ranged from 65,000 - 69,000 VND/ sack. As compared with 2 weeks ago, the hollow bricks have now continued to slide a further 10%. Many construction stores have launched the marketing staff to get to the large or small construction works, including civil works to offer and quote the daily updated price decrease of iron and steel. However, the purchasing power on the raw construction market has now fallen by approximately 50% over the same period of the last year due to some reasons such as: the real estate market being frozen; many projects have not been developed because the investors cannot borrow the capital, etc. And the construction season of this year has nearly ended. The consumption of the interior equipment market has not been optimistic yet. As of now, the construction works are mainly in the progress of executing the raw materials. According to the forecast and expectations of the producers - enterprises in the construction material field, the material market will complete and the sales of the interior equipments will increase and the raw construction material market will pick up until the end of December 2008 and the beginning of 2009.

STOCK MARKET

VN-Index sets up new bottom, HASTC-Index returns to starting-point Edited by VietRees Chart Source: Vietstock Up to date: 21 Nov, 2008

On the first trading session of 21st Nov, the anxiety of the investors about the financial crisis situation of US and the World made a large number of selling orders to be launched, which caused the stock index to slide by 10.24 points (or 3.14%). The new bottom is quickly established at 315.5 points, which is the lowest level of the market since February 2008. However, the trading volume has significantly increased right from the first phase. And the total volume of successful transactions has reached 4.231 million units worth over 101.450 billion VND. The purchasing speed has increased, which has made many share codes turn green. Therefore, entering the consecutive order-matching phase, the downturn of VN-Index has been held back and the volume of selling orders has gone down. Ending the second phase, VN-Index has been down to 6.07 points. However, entering the third phase, the buyers have sat on the fence, which has made VN-Index continue to slide a further 0.5 points. Ending the session, VN-Index has lost a total of 6.78 points (or 2.08%) to close at 318.96 points. The total trading volume on the whole market has reached 17.6 million units worth 420.8 billion VND. In sum, after one trading week with 5 downward sessions, VN-Index has established one new bottom after losing 33.11 points as compared to the last week. Similar to HOSE, in the first 30 minutes, the trading situation of Ha Noi securities transaction center has declined and the number of transactions has been low. In the middle of the session, the trading volume and share prices has increased, and then decreased at the end of the session. The volume of successful transactions on the whole center is 6.8 million units worth 173.39 billion VND. After one trading week with 1 slight upward session, HASTC-Index has lost 9.2 points as compared to the last week and it has been nearly 4 points far from the starting level.