VietRees_Newsletter_61_Week2_Month12_Year08

Weekly Newsletter Vietnam Real Estate A61

Week 2, December

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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.8)

Market forecast, statistics expert opinions (p.9)

Construction material market last week (p.10)

Stock market last week (p.10)

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

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VietRees – Vietnam Real Estate www.VietRees.com Viet Nam Real Estate Newsletter A61 Page 2

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MARKET SITUATION

A few transactions in city Tuoi Tre – 08 Dec, 2008

Although the frozen situation on the real estate market has not yet ended, the single housing market in the city continues to be "warm". According to surveys at some real estate transaction centers, the transaction situation has risen by over 40% for the single houses in the city in November 2008 and the transaction value has also increased as compared to the previous months. For this market, the transactions have increased because this type of product is suitable for those who have real housing demands. Moreover, the fact that banks are loosening their lending to buy the properties that have clear legal documents has also created advantages for customers in the real estate buying and selling. In addition, the channels of bank savings and stock investments are now not attractive any longer, many investors have switched to buying houses that have clear legal documents and are able to be exploited. According to some ideas, if the monetary policies were loosened and the interest rates were reduced a month sooner, the housing market in the city would be more eventful. The Tet holidays are only a month away, although banks have eased the loans, people have still limited their borrowing because it is late to prepare a new house for welcoming Tet holidays. However, some banks have forecasted that the market will be eventful after Tet holidays because the real estate prices on the market are too low; the house prices do not rise, the gold prices tend to go down and the construction material prices drop. The loan interest rate is getting close to the level of 2007, etc. The housing demand is still great and real, therefore the housing credit will also become “hot” sooner or later.

The rise of low-priced and small-sized houses Lao Dong – 08 Dec, 2008

Due to many reasons including the desire for quick profits in the past years, enterprises have just put a lot of effort into the high-grade apartment projects. The supply is greater than the demand, which has led to the situation of superfluity, sluggishness and price decreases. Although the current prices have significantly dropped, in fact, it is still higher compared to the incomes of the majority of the low and middle-income people. The deviatory development of the upside down trapezium has caused the real estate crisis and has collapsed when the monetary policy was tightened. Most enterprises have shown that currently, there is no cash to maintain the operations. The delays and troubles in the administrative formalities have also lost the liquidity of the market. In addition, the heavy impacts of the financial crisis and the spreading global economic recession have forecasted that the Vietnamese real estate market will become gloomier. According to the enterprises, although the property prices have declined by 40 - 60%, they have not touched the bottom. The market will be gloomier in the second and third quarters of 2009. According to some experts, even when the interest rate is 0% but the policies and procedures have not been adjusted, the market has continued to freeze and some enterprises have not dared to continue investing. Additionally, the construction has been executed perfunctorily, the workers have been unemployed for a long time, the investors have no cash and there have been no customers for a long time. These causes have put many enterprises in the danger of bankruptcy and Viet Nam will see the scarcity of apartments within the next 2 - 3 years. To adapt to the current situation, some enterprises have shifted their directions from "the high-gradeapartments with the big sizes” to "the low-price houses with small sizes" in order to suit the majority of the low-middle income people. In addition, the real estate enterprises have also suggested that the National Assembly and the Government should have preferential policies of welfare houses, socialize the welfare houses and adjust some regulations relevant to the Housing Laws, etc to “ease” the real estate market. Meanwhile, the government should have the supporting policies in the loan interest rates for the workers when they buy houses.

REAL ESTATE FOREIGN INVETSMENT

Works start on high-grade complex Indochina Plaza Hanoi Lao Dong – 09 Dec, 2008

Real Estate Investment Company Indochina Land (America) together with Trade Center and Houses in Hanoi held a groundbreaking ceremony to start the construction of Indochina plaza Hanoi complex at 239 Xuan Thuy Street, Cau Giay district, Ha Noi on 9th December. With a total investment of 150 million USD, the project is 16,600 m2 in size, including two towers of 32 and 36 floors reserved for the high-grade apartments, an 11-floor tower for offices for lease and a 5-floor building for trade center. The project is expected to be completed in 2010. Savills Viet Nam company will exclusively market and sell the project.

Increasing investment in Ha Long Star tourism area Bao Xay Dung – 10 Dec, 2008

Quang Ninh Provincial People's Committee has had a decision on adjusting the investment in the project of Ha Long Star general urban – tourism area, invested by the joint venture between Limitless World (belonging to Dubai World Group), Vietnam - America Ha Long JSC and LLC International Real Estate Investment Company (USA). The project investment is adjusted from 180 million USD up to 550 million USD. In addition to the registered functions, the project is adjusted to add the first 6-star resort complex of the country including 1 hotel and 100 villas on a site of 40 ha.

Australia to build a tourism area in Hue TheSaiGonTimes – 11 Dec, 2008

On 11th December 2008, Thua Thien-Hue Provincial People's Committee licensed Lost World – Hue One Member Co., Ltd (belonging to Wings Trust Company - Australia) to implement the project of constructing the tourism area Lost World Resort Hue at Vinh Thanh commune and Vinh An, Phu Vang district. The total investment of the project is 50 million. The construction process of the project will be divided into 4 phases, lasting from now to year 2013. The tourism area includes a center area, a villa zone, hotels, beauty centers, conference centers, amusement parks and sports area on a site of approximately 49.5 hectares.


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Total FDI and the number of investment projects in Vietnam until Nov, 2008 Source: General Statistics Office

In November, 2008 the whole country had 106 newly licensed projects with the registered capital of 726 million USD, pushing the number of new-level projects (from the beginning of the year to 20th November 2008) up to 1059 projects with the total registered capital of 59 billion USD. In spite of 17.5% decrease in the number of the projects, the registered capital has increased by 252.5% over the same period last year.

VIETNAM IN THE WORLD

HCMC, one of 15 places suggested for receiving real estate investment VietRees

According to the investigative result that has just been announced by Asia Pacific - Urban Research Institute and PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ho Chi Minh City is one of the places that are evaluated to have potential for the growth in real estate 2009. Tokyo (Japan) has topped the rankings. This city has had the most eventful real estate market in Asia for many recent years. The next is Singapore and Hong Kong is ranked third, going up 2 ranks as compared to the last year. The other positions in the top 10 include Shanghai, Bangalore, Mumbai, Taipei, New Delhi and Kuala Lumpur. Ho Chi Minh of Viet Nam is ranked 13th at the same group with a number of other cities in the Asia Pacific region such as Melbourne, Beijing, Sydney, Osaka, Guangzhou, Auckland, Bangkok, Manila and Jakarta. The annual reports on real estate investment opportunities provide the information about the market prospects and development trends of the relevant industries in the regional big cities. This report is based on the professional opinions of the real estate specialists around the world, including investors, developers, consultants and brokers.

REAL ESTATE AGENTS

The first hotel in Vietnam using Westin brand name Thanh Nien – 07 Dec, 2008

On 6th December, Phat Dat Company & Hotel Management Group Starwood (USA) have signed a contract to manage the hotel The Westin Resort & Spa in Cam Ranh, Khanh Hoa invested by the Company. The Westin Resort & Spa has a total investment of approximately USD 100 million with an area of 26.8 hectares, including one 5-star hotel (250 rooms) and 80 villas. It is expected to be put into operation in 2012.

Opening Thu Thiem real estate transaction centers BDS & TS – 08 Dec, 2008

Thu Thiem Investment JSC has officially opened and operated Thu Thiem real estate transaction center at Thu Thiem Building - 40/1 Tran Nao Street, Binh An Ward, District 2, Ho Chi Minh City. Customers can directly visit the transaction center or access www.diaocthuthiem.vn to look up the real estate law documents, find out information their land and implement the requirements transactions such as real estate brokers - consultation, evaluation, advertising, bidding, and management inside and outside the country.

Centec Tower to come into operation Nguoi Lao Dong – 08 Dec, 2008

Sao Phuong Nam JSC plans to start putting the grade-A office building Centec Tower into use at the beginning of 2009 and this building will be managed by CBRE. Centec Tower is located at 72-74 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street, District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, having the total usable area of 27,660 m2 with 23 floors and 3 basements. The area of each floor is approximately 1,178m2, which is suitable for the companies in need of using the large spaces. The rent is estimated to be 57 - 65 USD/m2 (excluding VAT).

Sacomreal starts to sell the 2nd phase of Saigon – Ham Nghi project Thanh Nien – 09 Dec, 2008

Saigon Thuong Tin Real Estate JSC (Sacomreal), the exclusive distributor, has begun to sell the 2nd phase of Sai Gon Ham Tan (Lagi town) invested by Sag Gon – Ham Tan. In this stage, Sacomreal will sell about 40 ground bases with the areas of from 100m2 and above at the price of 1.4 million dong/m2.

Organizing a design contest for Harmony Point project TheSaiGonTimes – 10 Dec, 2008

Khanh Hoi Sugar Company has started the contest of architecture designing to find the suitable designs for Harmony Point project that is located at 147 Bis Nguyen Tat Thanh, W.13, Dist.4, Ho Chi Minh City and invested by the Company with an area of over 10,000 m2. According to the request of the investor, Harmony Point project will has a maximum height of 35 floors (excluding the mezzanine floor and basement), including trade center, office buildings for lease and high-grade apartments. The organization board shows that the deadline for submitting exam design is before 24th February, 2009 and the award is expected to be announced on 6th March, 2009.


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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

Pho Phong Complex of Industrial – Residential – Service(Quang Ngai) VietRees – 08 Dec, 2008

Quang Ngai Provincial People's Committee has officially licensed Tan Tao Industry and Investment JSC to implement the project of building the infrastructure & trading in the complex of Industrial - Residential -Services in Phong Pho (Duc Pho suburban district) with a total investment of approximately 717 billion VND. The project includes a system of restaurants, hotels, trade centers, houses, apartments, offices on a site of 300 ha. The project is expected to be completed in 2012.

One more building welcoming 1000-year Thang Long - Hanoi Ha Noi Moi – 08 Dec, 2008

Ha Tay Tourism JSC has started the construction of HATTOCO building at Mo Lao ward, Ha Dong city With the investment of 1,000 billion VND and the construction site of 101,000m2, the 39-floor building uses 6 floors for a 4-star hotel. The remaining floors are used for accomodating or offices for lease. The project is expected to be completed at the end of 2011.

Works start on high-rise apartment building at Thu Duc VietRees – 10 Dec, 2008

Civil Engineering Construction and Investment JSC No 135 (Cedico 135) has held a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of 16 storey apartment building at No.69 Street 18, Quarter 4, Hiep Binh Chanh Ward, Thu Duc District, Ho Chi Minh city. The apartment includes 1 basement for parking, ground floor and mezzanine floor used for commercial area & community activities and 120 apartments with the size of 55 - 98m2 per unit.

Piloting the construction of 10,000 welfare apartments. Kinh Te Do Thi – 12 Dec, 2008

The Ministry of Construction has just submitted the Government the projects of constructing the welfare house projects with the State-owned budget. According to the Statement, there will be 4 - 6 projects in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City with the land reserve of about 30 - 40 hectares. The gross floor area is about 500,000m2. In which, there are 5,000 apartments for the workers and 5,000 units for the low income households. At present, the investment ration is estimated to be about 5 million VND/ m2/ floor. The construction progress lasts 2 years from 2009 to 2010. The Ministry of Construction will take responsibility for the progress of implementing the projects. After the pilot projects are completed, managing, organizing, exploiting and operating the housing reserve to revoke and return the investment will be managed by the Ministry and transferred to the local authorities. Those who want to lease or lease-to-purchase houses also have to meet the conditions about the monthly average income following the regulations. The maximum period for a lease is 5 years. When the time is over, if the tenants have the demands, they have to perform the procedures to confirm that they still belong to the subjects allowed to lease the welfare houses for a maximum period of 15 years. The subjects given the priority for leasing and leasing-to-purchasing include cadres, state civil servants, military officers, professional servicemen of the armed forces.

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 – Dec, 2008

Announced prominent real estate developments during the last 2 weeks*

Week 1, December 2008 Week 2, December 2008

Ho Chi Minh City Truong Tho apartment building (Thu Duc) Resettlement AP An Phu – Binh Khanh (Dist.12)

Cecico 135 apartment building (Thu Duc)

Other Areas Tam Dao 2 tourism area (Vinh Phuc), My Tho golf hotel (Tien Giang), Ana Mandara Resort (Ninh Binh), Hanoi Indochina Plaza Complex (Hanoi), Sheraton Hotel & Spa (Nha Trang)

Pho Phong Industrial – Residential area (Quang Ngai) Hattoco office building (Ha Dong) Indochina Plaza Hanoi Complex (Hanoi)

Approved prominent real estate developments in HCM City*

November December

Housing, apartment, residential area AP - offices at Binh Quoi (Binh Thanh), AP at Phu Thuan Ward (Dist.7), AP at Thao Dien Ward (Dist. 2)

Truong Tho apartment building (Thu Duc) Resettlement AP An Phu – Binh Khanh (Dist.12)

* 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 * 150m2 – 1,950 USD/m2

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

* 119m2 – 16 million VND/m2

Sky Garden , Dist.7 * 81m2 – 27.7 million VND/m2

* 337m2 – 21.4 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 * 83.28m2 - 19.2 million VND/m2 * 91.14m2 – 18.1million VND/m2

The Everich, Dist.11 * 115m2 – 1,450 USD/m2

Preche, Dist.2 * 147m2 – 2,222 USD/m2

Panorama, Dist.7 * 166m2 – 43.3million VND/m2

* 194m2 – 39.1million VND/m2

Saigon Pearl, B.Thanh * 135m2 – 1,800 USD/m2

* 140m2 – 1,850 USD/m2

The Vista, Dist.2 * 101m2 – 1,754 USD/m2 * 139m2 – 1,625 USD/m2

New SaiGon, Nha Be * 98.9m2 – 16.5 million VND/m2

* 126m2 – 17.2 million VND/m2

The Manor, B.Thanh * 80m2 – 1,750 USD/m2

* 140m2 – 1,800 USD/m2

Dist. Area (m2)

Price (million VND/m2) +/-

Apartment building – HCMC Central Garden 1 141 28 An Khang 2 103.5 24.5 - An Thinh 2 140 23.7 + Screc Tower 3 69.5 24.5 Constrexim 4 81.5 19 H3 Hoang Dieu 4 71 24 Hung Vuong Plaza 5 121 28.5 + An Hoa 2 7 50 15 Carina Plaza 8 99 14.2 Thai An 2 12 73 13.4 Gia Phu BT 70 9.4 - Phu My Thuan NB 93.5 7.9 - Bau Cat 2 TB 55.55 14.5 + Fortuna TB 81 11.4 Development land lots – HCMC An Phu – An Khanh 2 160 22.2 Thanh My Loi 2 110 13.5 + The ky 21 2 236.5 15 An Phu Hung 7 88 21.5 Khang An 9 144 7 Nam Long 9 240 8 Phong Phu 4 BC 100 6.5 Hoang Hai HM 200 9

Thai Son 1 NB 250 10.5 - Apartment building - Ha Noi M5 – Nguyen Chi Thanh BD 144 29 302 Cau Giay CG 125 22 Chelsea Park CG 128 24.5 - Dong Nam Tran Duy Hung CG 145 26 Thai Thinh Plaza DD 114 25.4 - Phap Van HM 68 13.7 - Bac Ha TX 70 15.5 - Development land lots – Other provinces Ben Cat BD 132 0.95 Binh An BD 100 6 My Phuoc 2 BD 150 1.5 - Wind Hill BR-VT 180 4.1 HUD DNI 100 2 + Long Hau 1 LA 300 2.2 Tan Do LA 162 2.2 -

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 55.24hectares at Dong Nam Cu Chi industrial - residential area in Cu Chi. * House management of Dist.1 is assigned to construct the resettlement area at 7/4ª Kha Van Can, Thu Duc district. * In early 2010, Hai Thanh company will complete 352 apartments of Hai Thanh 1 resettlement area project, Binh Tan District for the civil servants at Binh Tan District. * People’s Committee of Binh Chanh has just cooperated with Hung Vuong university Investment & Development JSC to construct resettlement area at Tan Kien commune, Binh Chanh suburban district. * 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 toconstruct another apartment building with over 200 apartments at Truong Tho ward, Thu Duc district. * HCMC People’s Committee has ratified the planning of Binh Khanh residential area (Dist.2) which is built on a site of 384,019 m2 to serve the resettlement of the locals in Thu Thiem new urban area. * Dat Xanh has cooperated with Truong Son Vanguard Youth General Squad to build apartments for low-income people at Dist.12 * Go Vap People’s Committee and Go Vap Public Benefit Service Co. have bought back the house reserve belonging to Phu Gia Hung high-end apartments, Duong Quang Ham Street, Ward 15, Go Vap Dist. and Dong Hung Thuan 1, 2 apartment buildings, Dist. 12 to serve the resettlement of the locals at Tham Luong project - Ben Cat - Nuoc Len ditch. * Approximately 184,000 apartments belonging to the investment program in the construction of the social welfare houses in the stage of 2009 – 2015 with the total investment of about 49,000 billion VND have been submitted to the government for approval. (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

Transferring the leases of state-owned houses. Bao Xay Dung – 10 Dec, 2008

On 9th December, the Ministry of Construction sent the official document 106/BXD-QLN on transferring the leases of the state-owned houses to the Department of Construction of HCMC and Hanoi. According to the Housing Laws and the documents providing the implementation guidelines, the state-owned houses are the welfare houses built with the state-owned budget. The public houses have to be leased by the right subjects, used with the right purposes and the leases are not allowed to be transferred under any form during the rental period. However, for the state-owned houses leased following the stipulated prices of the Prime Minister, the point a item 5 of the Resolution 23/2006/NQ-CP on 7th September 2006 has decided to assign the People's Committee at the provincial level to solve the sale of the state-owned houses for those who are leasing with the simple procedures, creating the advantages for the house buyers, including the cases in which the contracts are available or not and there is no dispute. Therefore, according to the above regulations, signing the contracts of leasing the state-owned houses that have not yet been renovated, rebuilt following the prices stipulated at the above Resolutions continues to be implemented for the cases in which there is not tenant’s name in the lease contracts and there is no dispute over the leases.

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

General tendency of HCMC market

The transaction situation of the apartments, townhouses and project ground bases in November continued to decrease more dramatically as compared to the previous months. According to VietRees’s forecast, the real estate prices can continue to decline with the level of 2%- 5 % in December and before Lunar New Year holidays after each month. The prices of the high-grade apartments in November will see the larger decreases as compared to the October and the rate of the successful transactions has still been low, even there are the transaction centers that do not have any successful transaction within 1 week. The buyers are still waiting for the further price decreases. A series of the real estate brokerage agents and centers have stopped operating. The transaction center systems of many companies with the relative scales have been narrowed because they cannot cover their costs and have no customers. According to VietRees, about 40% of the brokerage centers and agents have closed down until the end of November and this number will continue to rise after Lunar New Year holidays. Most of the closed brokerage centers and agents have been located in the districts 2, 9, 7, Nha Be and Binh Chanh. These centers can be the transaction offices of the companies that have many offices and transaction agents scattered in many districts in the city. The remaining centers have not yet closed down but according to the surveys of VietRees, they have only operated perfunctorily and many centers are closed on weekends to reduce the operation costs.

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).

Project ground base market. The market of ground bases has continued to go down by 4% as compared to October, 2008 according to VietRees, Similarly to October, the successful transactions have been very low and much lower than the apartments whose successful transactions are limited. According VietRees, after Lunar New Year 2009, the real estate market will be the attractive field and bring appealing opportunities to the investors with the plentiful investment and the long-term investment strategies. Therefore, the real estate enterprises that have potential need to build long-term development strategies; work actively in researching and developing, especially, seriously invest in the market researches, customer researches; make the sustainable development steps and avoid scattering/strewing their investment capital in the current difficult situation.



VIETNAM REAL ESTATE MARKET

Under View Of Expert – Statistics and edited by VietRees

Statistics from VietRees

Over 90% of the experts are confident in the future of Vietnamese real estate market. 30% of the opinions show that the market will recover in 2009 or after 2009 (according to statistical data of VietRees in November, 2008). Before the movements of the current real estate market, VietRees has collected the real estate experts’ opinions in order to determine the confidence in the development potential of the market in the future and concurrently, determine when Vietnamese real estate market will recover. This statistical result gathers the opinions of 33 leading real estate experts working for the state agencies, the senior leaders of some big famous prestigious real estate corporations operating in the real estate field. These comments have been publicized in the media such as newspapers, magazines, big and reputable websites from March 2008 to October 2008.

Confidence in Vietnamese real estate market

Every expert has his own arguments to judge the market. However, according to 100% of the experts, the current market is facing many difficulties but they are still confident and optimistic about the future market. According to Mr. Jean Chretien, former Canadian prime minister and the advisor of Asian Coast Development Ltd. “Although Vietnamese real estate market is having difficulties, it is only temporary. The market still has a lot of potential and foreign investors are aiming at the long-term investment here". In fact, there are some experts that have not clearly expressed their confidence in the market. However, they have still believed that "the real estate market does not have a big problem, in the near future the market will change according to the stability of the financial market as well as other stable indexes of the economy”. More particularly, nearly 90% of the experts are still optimistic and confident in the development of the Vietnamese real estate market in the near future because in the so-called current recession of the market, some other real estate segments are still developing.

According to the Chairman of Viet Nam Real Estate Association, Le Hoang Chau "Although the realestate market is leveling off, it only affects the segments of ground bases and apartments. The offices and industrial zone land for rent are still in the situation of “the supply not meeting the demand”. With the same opinion, Matthew Koziora, the director of the Vinaland company (VinaCapital Group) states: “The interesting fields are attracting foreign investors, including houses, industrial zones, hotels, high rise office buildings for rent, tourism sites".

Forecasting the time of Vietnamese real estate market recovering

As of now, many individuals and units take interest in the time that the real estate market begins to recover and develop stability. The result of these statistics will answer these queries to some extent. According to the result, 70% of the experts have not yet determined the specific time when the market will be up and about again. The reason for having not yet determined the time of the real estate market recovering is that the real estate market has still been much affected by other economic factors, shown by these experts.

30% of the experts’ opinions determine that the exact time for the recovery of the market is in 2009 or after 2009 (in which, 12% of the opinions determine that the market will recover in 2009 and 18% of the ideas determine that the market will recover after 2009). Summarizing all of the opinions of the experts, we can see that it is very difficult to determine the time for the recovery of the market. The recovery of the market depends on many factors. Only when we fully analyze the factors and economic indexes, combining with statistical prediction science, we can somewhat determine the exact time of the market recovering. Forecasting the time for the recovery of the market is only exact to some extent. Because the forecast does not just look at some expressions of the economy or not base itself on the opinions of some people but it needs to base itself on many different researches and scientific analyses.



CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL MARKET

Supply still abundant Edited by VietRees

According to the forecast of Vietnam Cement Association, the cement demand of the whole country can reach 4 million tons in December 2008, rising by 10-12% over the same period last year. Since October 2008, the cement demand has seen the signs of the upturn with 3.3 million tons, rising by 9% over the same period of the year 2007. In November, the cement consumption was still remained but it decreased by 4% as compared to November, 2007 due to the floods in the Northern provinces. According to the Association’s forecast, the cement consumption will continue to increase at the end of the year – the peak of construction season. On the other hand, the construction process of the big projects is also intensified by the enterprises at the end of the year. The import duty on clinker has gone down to 0%, which has considerably contributed to the stability of the cement production and market. Therefore, the prices will definitely not have the dramatical changes as the beginning of the year. On 10th December 2008, the Ministry of Finance promulgated the decision about adjusting the import tax on iron and steel products to be 2% - 12% and it will take effect after 15 days from the date of its publication in the Official Gazette. Although the transactions have increased a little bit, the construction material market has continued to be sluggish in general. According to the forecast in the near future, the cement prices still continue to be kept unchanged. There will probably be some more promotion programs and after-sale services from the producers and distributors in order to stimulate the demands. The brick prices have now decreased significantly and the brick inventory has been large, as a result, there is a faint possibility that the price increase will increase. There may be some changes until the first quarter of 2009.

STOCK MARKET

VN-Index continues to rise on two bourses Edited by VietRees Chart Source: Vietstock Up to date: 12 Dec, 2008

At Ho Chi Minh bourse, the upturn has still continued to be maintained since the opening time of the market. VN-Index has added 6.58 points to close at 295.51 points. The total trading volume has reached 1.8 million units. In the consecutive order matching phase, the big share codes have still affirmed the upward trend in prices. Vn-Index has continued to add 3.53 points and closed at 299.04 points. Closing the session, Vn-Index has added a total of 10.61 points to close at 299.54 points. The total trading volume has reached over 11.8 million units worth 265.27 billion VND. After one trading week, VN-Index has had 2 upward sessions and 2 downward sessions. As compared to the last week, VN-Index has lost 0.14 points (down from 299.68 points to 299.54 points). At Hanoi bourse, HASTC-Index has maintained the upturn when adding 4.04 points to climb up to 105.09 points. The total trading volume has reached 8.5 million units worth 199 billion VND. In sum, after one trading week, HASTC-Index has had 3 upward sessions and 2 downward sessions. As compared to the last week, HASTC-Index has added 1.55 points (from 103.54 points up to 105.09 points).

Business

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