VietRees_Newsletter_52_Week2_Month10_Year08

Weekly Newsletter Vietnam Real Estate A52

Week 2, October

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

joining to develop the newsletter

VietRees, a member of

Free register for weekly newsletter: Please send your email to [email protected]

Sponsor and advestising: T: (08) 948 5574 - E: [email protected]

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)

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.

Readers can print or save this newsletter on your computers to review when needed or transfer it to others. However, think of environment when you want to print it out.

VietRees – Vietnam Real Estate www.VietRees.com Viet Nam Real Estate Newsletter A52 Page 2

Sponsor:

MARKET SITUATION

Ha Dong land moves into a quiet period Bao Xay Dung – 05 Oct, 2008

Real estate prices at some project areas in Ha Dong (called Ha Tay in the past) have not increased as dramatically as many people forecasted after the merge with Hanoi. Together with the general sluggishness of the real estate market, land prices in Ha Dong - a new hot area in Ha Noi has still seen a downtrend. According to some real estate brokerage centers in Ha Dong, as compared with the late 2007 and early 2008, the real estate prices at the new urban areas such as Van Khe, Van Quan, Van Phu, Xa La, Mo Gia, etc have averagely decreased from 20% to 25%. Even so, the volume of successful transactions has been also at modest levels. The transaction situation at the new urban areas in the recent months has always been quiet. The real estate brokerage centers have not been as crowded as in the early part of this year. Many centers have had to close down because there have not been any customers. Besides the project land, the residential land has been in a similar situation. After the instant land fever, the number of clients has dropped sharply. Currently, the prices of residential land offered for sale at Ha Dong have dropped by over 20%, but there have not been many transactions. According to an expert, the fact of land prices declining in Ha Dong has followed the market law. It is because that when Hanoi expands, the supply increases and the property prices must go down. That is the market law of demand and supply.

Where is the bottom of the real estate prices? Nguoi Lao Dong – 08 Oct, 2008

Although the real estate prices have now fallen rather dramatically and even some locations have decreased by 40 – 60%, the market has begun to see some investors’ actions of buying back, the bad bank debts concerning real estate have still not found the key yet. This makes many experts and investors think that the real estate market will still be frozen for a long time. And they also say that at this time, the real estate market has a lot of potential risks. Additionally, there is a faint possibility of the monetary policy for real estate being loosened more. Therefore, the prices of apartments and ground bases will continue to decline and it is very difficult to foresee when the price decreases will stop. Many experts have shown that many people have used the real estate prices at the time before the fevers in 2007 as the foundations and thought that the current prices have touched the bottom. However, they have also assessed that the decrease levels have been radically different and the bottom prices have also varied considerably according to locations or market segments. Therefore, it can be defined that the real estate prices will fall down to the bottom only when the buyers offer the last prices at which the sellers are still resolved not to sell the properties. That is when the prices are equivalent to the amount of money that the enterprises paid for their constructions. According to experts’ prediction, the investors should wait for one more month before deciding to make their purchase although the current prices are very attractive. At that time, the market trend will become clearer because the overall solutions to the inflation limitation and the new macroeconomic policies will take effect, especially the policies relevant to the real estate market.

Hotels and office buildings still “hot” TheSaiGonTimes – 09 Oct, 2008

From the beginning of 2008 until now, the number of foreigners arriving in HCMC has increased by 15 –20% as compared with the early 2007 and the occupancy rate has averaged 85%. In which, the occupancy rate of 3 star hotels has been 91% and that rate of 4 star hotels has been 86.1%. Therefore, the hotel market has still been very attractive to the investors. As from 2011, office buildings for lease will move into to an intense competition because there will be many buildings put into operation. According to a recent statistic, the total area of offices for lease in HCMC has been approximately 466,000m2. The occupancy rate has always reached 97% and the rental prices have always increased dramatically within the 2 years of 2007 and 2008. With 350,000m2 floor area put into business operation from 2001, the rental prices as well as the occupancy rate will cool down.

REAL ESTATE FOREIGN INVETSMENT

Investing 4 billion USD in real estate in Dong Thap Kinh Te Do Thi – 07 Oct, 2008

The branch of Giant Group Co. Ltd., in Malaysia is waiting for the approval of the Government to invest in the complex worth 4 billion USD at the border gate of Dinh Ba economic zone, Dong Thap, bordering on Cambodia. The project is built on a site of 200 hectares, including hotels, apartments, resorts, offices etc. It is expected to be commence in 2009 and completed in 2013.

Hanoi – the attractive location for foreign investors Vnagency – 10 Oct, 2008

Up until September 2008, Hanoi has attracted a total 1,400 FDI projects with a total registered capital of over 18 billion USD. There are 41 countries, territories investing in Ha Noi, especially from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, the United States and European countries. The investment structure in Ha Noi has seen a drastic change from the fields of production industry and business to the fields of service, finance and banking and especially the big real estate projects. The event of Hanoi ranking among the 17 biggest cities and capitals has attracted more interest of the investors and producers in Hanoi and the northern provinces due to the fact that the labour force is abundant and the labour costs in the northern provinces and Hanoi are less than 30% as compared with the labour markets at the southern provinces.


Sponsor:

List of the countries making most investment into Vietnam until the third quarter of 2008

With the project of the steel complex in Ninh Thuan worth 9.8 billion USD, Malaysia has pushed Taiwan down one rank and moved up to the first rank in the list. However, Korea is the country owning the biggest total extra registered capital and the highest number of projects.

VIETNAM IN THE WORLD

VN dropped in the rankings of a global competition order

As compared with last year, VN has dropped by 2 ranks from the 68th rank to the 70th on the board ranking the global competitive ability of 2008 announced at World Economic Forum (WEF) on October 8th, 2008. WEF will give marks and rank the economies based on the announced statistical data and opinion polls of the experts. The United States has still been leading because their economy has kept a high productivity and creative ability together with the ability of allocating resources to the most effective areas. The next countries are Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Singapore, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Japan and Canada. Among East Asian countries, Vietnam has only ranked above Philippines and Cambodia (Laos and Myanmar have not appeared on the ranking board). The report assesses that Vietnam has exceeded the black round of the group 1 and is moving to Group 2. The strength of Vietnam is the stability of macro economy, health care - primary education and the market scale. The weaknesses of Vietnam are the infrastructure, training and university education and the Technology Readiness Level. Vietnam has 22 factors that rank it 100th or lower and 12 points that place it 40th among 109 detailed criteria used for evaluation, allocation of points and ranking.

REAL ESTATE AGENTS

Richland Hill high-end model apartments inaugurated TheSaiGonTimes – 05 Oct, 2008

On October 4th, 2008, the project of the Richland Hill high-end model apartment models has officially been inaugurated at 177B Cao Thang street (prolonged), district 10, HCMC. Richland Hill complex, located in District 9, includes 1,100 apartments, 1 entertainment & trade center and 2 grades-A office towers. Currently, the project has finished the foundation and it is expected to be completed in early 2011.

ACBR establishes a standard real estate transaction center Vneconomy – 07 Oct, 2008

The Ministry of Construction has licensed ACB Real Estate Joint Stock Company (ACBR) to upgrade ACB real estate supermarket to a standard real estate transaction center with the support of the Housingand Real Estate Market Management Bureau. It is expected to be put into operation in the fourth quarter of 2008. ACB transaction center has provided a wide range of real estate services including advertising, brokerage, assessment, legal formalities, payment through banks, loan consulting, investment research, consulting and marketing of real estate projects and etc.

One more 4-star hotel comes into operation Vnagency – 07 Oct, 2008

Saigon - Dalat JSC (a joint-venture between Saigon Tourist with Sunimex, ITACO, Lam Dong Tourism Co., Cho Lon Tourist Co. and Phu Tho Tourism Service Limited Company) has inaugurated Saigon -Dalat hotel of 4-star standards in the centre of Da Lat city, Lam Dong province with a total investment of 200 billion VND. The hotel includes 160 bedrooms, 2 restaurants, 4 conference rooms with the capacities of 30-450 seats and other services.

Constructing one more Co.opMart supermarket in Ba Ria - Vung Tau ThaSaiGonTimes – 08 Oct, 2008

On October 8th, 2008, Saigon Co.op and Saigon Co.op Investment Development JSC (SCID) commenced the construction of Co.opMart Ba Ria supermarket in Ba Ria town, Ba Ria - Vung Tau province. It is to be built on a site of over 7,300m2 with a total investment of over 73 billion VND. The project includes Co.opMart supermarket, fashion business area, restaurant, entertainment area, bookstore and other services. It is expected to be inaugurated in the end of the first quarter of 2009. The third project that also belongs to CoopMart system in Vung Tau will be built at Phu My commune, Tan Thanh suburban district and put into operation in 2010.

Big C Thang Long trade center opened Ha Noi Moi – 09 Oct, 2008

Big C Thang Long supermarket services and international trade Co. Ltd held an inauguration ceremony for Big C Thang Long trade center at 222 Tran Duy Hung street, Cau Giay district, Ha Noi on October 08th, 2008. Big C Thang Long trade center has an investment of 4 million USD and includes 3 storeys. In which, the self-selected business area is 9,000m2, the shopping center area is 10,000m2 and one entertainment area is available. The system also plans to open one more trade center at Ha Noi in October of 2010.


Sponsor:

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


Sponsor:

REAL ESTATE PROJECT AND PRICES

The planning of building Na Hang ecotourism site ratified Kinh Te Do Thi – 07 Oct, 2008

Tuyen Quang provincial People's Committee has ratified the general planning for the construction of Na Hang ecotourism site, including: 10 communes; Thanh Tuong, Nang Kha, Thuong Lam, Son Phu, Khau Tinh, Yen Hoa, Da Vi, Hong Thai, Khuon Ha, Lang Can and Na Hang town with a total area of 15,000 hectares and the belt area of approximately 18,200 hectares. The tourism site includes the functional subdivisions such as reception areas, Phien Bung forest zone, Coc Vai forestrial and aquatic zone (including high-lend villa areas, entertainment areas), sport area on water, area for enjoying forest scenery on water, Da Vi aquatic zone and cultural tourism village zone. Na Hang tourism site is expected to begin to welcome visitors in 2010.

One more high-grade office area in the west of Ha Noi VietRees – 08 Oct, 2008

On October 7th, 2008, Nam Cuong Group commenced the construction of a high-end office building on Le Van Luong street (prolonged), Duong Noi urban area, Ha Dong city. The 27-storey building is built following the standards of grade B offices with a total office area for lease of 55,000 m2. This building will be put into operation in 2010.

Thua Thien-Hue about to have a new 50 hectare urban area VietRees – 08 Oct, 2008

Thua Thien - Hue Provincial People's Committee has licensed Asia – Pacific Investment JSC to develop the project of APEC new urban area at zone B (located in An Van Duong new urban area, Hue city) with a site of 50 hectares and a total investment of 500 billion VND. The urban area will solve the housing demand for the locals, cadres, employees – workers of the factories in the region and the foreign experts who will live and work here.

High-grade apartment prices at HCMC are not changed compared with September, 2008 Edited by VietRees – Oct, 2008

Announced prominent real estate developments during the last 2 weeks*

Week 1, October 2008 Week 2, October 2008

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

Na Hang ecotourism zone (Tuyen Quang) 27-storey office building Le Van Luong (Ha Tay) Apec new urban area (Thua Thien - Hue)

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)

AP No. 1 – No. 31 Calmette Street (Dist.1) Resettlement area at Phu My Ward (Dist.7)

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

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


Sponsor:

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 * 85.56m2 – 17 million VND/m2

Sky Garden 3, Dist.7 * 71m2 – 32.4 million VND/m2 * 89m2 – 29.2 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 * 112m2 – 1.650 USD/m2 * 161m2 – 2.250 USD/m2

Preche, Dist.2 * 147m2 – 2.300 USD/m2

* 154m2 – 2.500 USD/m2

Panorama, Dist.7 * 141m2 – 45 million VND/m2

* 164m2 – 44.5 million VND/m2

Saigon Pearl, B.Thanh * 89.56m2 – 2.100SD/m2 * 136m2 – 2.450 USD/m2

The Vista, Dist.2 * 108m2 – 1.690 USD/m2 * 135m2 – 1.700 USD/m2

BMC Hung Long, Dist.7 * 79.3m2 – 21 million VND/m2 * 120.6m2 – 19 million VND/m2

The Manor, B.Thanh * 98.3m2 – 2.650 USD/m2 * 101m2 – 2.550 USD/m2

District

Area (m2)

Price (million VND/m2) +/-

Apartment building – HCMC Avalon 1 104 89,6 Sailing Tower 1 100.94 70.4 An Hoa 2 90 16.5 Screc Tower 3 81 26 + Constrexim 4 81.5 21.7 - Hung Vuong Plaza 5 129.9 30.8 + New Sai Gon 7 98.9 21 Hoang Thap – Trung Son 8 98 19 - Dat Phuong Nam BTH 109 26 An Loc GV 64 13.75 Botanic PN 109.5 31.9 + Fortuna TP 76 12 Khang Phu TP 74 16.5 - Development land lots – HCMC An Phu – An Khanh 2 200 25.75 + The Ky 21 2 100 23 An Phu Hung 7 72 27 + Hung Gia 7 300 27 Sadeco ven song 7 200 32 Ung Thanh 8 92 8.6 Khang An 9 144 8 Hai Yen BC 160 10 + Trung Son BC 100 34 -

Hiep Binh Phuoc TD 100 7.8 Apartment building - Ha Noi Doi Nhan BD 85 22.2

Trung Hoa – Nhan Chinh CG 80 20 Den Lu HM 64 15 Viet Hung LB 71 12.5 Ciputra TH 145 27.2

CT5 TX 85 13.1 Nang Huong TX 100 14 Development land lots – Other provinces My Phuoc 3 BD 300 1.27 - Tan Dong Hiep BD 100 4.6 Long Dien BR-VT 100 2 Wind Hill BR-VT 180 4.2 Phu An DNI 100 2.2 Thanh Hung DNI 120 2 Dai Duong LA 100 3.9

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


Sponsor:

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. * 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) * 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 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.


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

REAL ESTATE LEGISLATION

Traders not need to register properties Kinh Te Do Thi – 09 Oct, 2008

The Standing Committee of the National Assembly has made a decision that they would not put the law project on real estate registration into the next working program of the National Assembly. According to the statement of Ministry of Justice, the real estate owners will have to register the rights in terms of real estate including the first-time registration and the later changes. In which, the first time registration will apply to the cases of not yet receiving the certificates of land use rights (red color) and house ownership (pink color). The registration for the changes should be carried out when the real estate owners make transactions or when there are the fluctuations relevant to the actual state of the real estate. The committee has said that they would make amendments to the problems in the existing law on real estate rather than enact the Law on real estate registration. If the real estate registration is added, people will have to perform more formalities when dealing with real estate, which is more troublesome. Therefore, the formalities in terms of real estate sale and purchase will be kept unchanged as present. This law project will be extended for further researches and it will be submitted to the National Assembly at the suitable time.

Ha Noi stipulates the rent of the state-owned houses Vnagency – 09 Oct, 2008

Ha Noi city has promulgated the decision on the rent of the state owned houses to the units, organizations leasing houses for business – service operation. Accordingly, the rental price of the properties that have not yet been built and renovated is 80,000 VND/m2/month. The unit price for leasing land has been defined following the regulations on collecting the land rent of HCMC People's Committee ( the house rent = the rent of the house size + the rent of the land area). In the cases that the tenants using the state-owned properties do not sign the lease contracts or delay in payment will be treated according to the regulations on the management of the state-owned properties. The land lease contracts that were signed before will become invalid on January 1st, 2009 if they do not receive the official decisions of the city for land lease in accordance with the regulations of Land Law 2003.

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.


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

CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL MARKET

Construction materials drop in both prices and consumption Edited by VietRees

Until October, the construction material market has not seen any new movement. Many shop owners said that not only prices have fallen dramatically, but also the consumption volume has dropped by 30% - 40%. Currently, in addition to the substantial price reduction, the volume of cement sold has also slid by 50% -60% over the same period of the last year. Together with cement, iron and steel have also plummeted by 3 - 4 million/ton as compared with the peak in July. In some districts, steel of all types have seen an average decrease of 1,000 - 2,000 VND/kg to mark at 16,800 - 17,000 VND/kg. Bar steel has decreased by 2,000 - 7,000 VND/bar. Hard galvanized corrugated iron, cold soft corrugated iron and color corrugated iron have decreased by a further 1,000 - 1,200 VND/m. In the beginning of last week, the Ministry of Finance has decided to make a second reduction in the export tax on iron and steel from 10% to 5%. The new tax is applied to the tax returns registered since October 7th, 2008. However, Viet Nam Steel Association and enterprises have still continued to propose that the Ministry of Finance should reduce export tax on steel ingots to 0% for the purpose of creating good conditions for the enterprises to export steel ingots. According to Vietnam Steel Association, the fact of increasing tax rate too high and quickly yet reducing it too tardily has made many steel ingot producers obliged to stop production. In addition to the main causes of the sluggishness such as capital shortage, high interest rate, large inventory, the factor that have considerable influences on the market is that the prices of steel ingots in the world has started to decline dramatically, especially the supply of steel ingots from China has also contributed to the price decreases of domestic steel. With this tendency, many experts have forecasted that the construction material market will keep being sluggish until the end of October.

STOCK MARKET

Two bourses continue to drop, VN-Index loses 18.62 points and HASTC-Index loses 9.41 points Edited by VietRees Chart source: Vietstock Up to date: 10 Oct, 2008

Vietnam’s stock market has still seen no sign of recovery after the last week’s sessions. Right at the opening time, at the HCM bourse, share codes have raced against each other to go down together with a mass of selling orders offered, which has made VN-Index go downhill and lose 18.59 points. The total trading volume has reached over 5.2 million units. Entering the consecutive order-matching phase, VN-Index has not continued to decline more due to the fairly high trading volume of the first phase. Ending the session, VN-Index has lost a total of 18.62 points to close at 379.06 points. The total trading volume on the whole market has reached over 16.4 units worth approximately 431.2 billion VND. After one trading week with 5 downward sessions, VN-Index has lost a total of 73.08 points (from 452.14 points of the previous week down to 379.06 points). At the Hanoi bourse, after a slightly increasing session yesterday, HASTC-Index has turned back on the downtrend with a deep decrease of 9.41 points to close at 119.87 points. The total trading volume on the whole market has reached over 8.4 million units worth approximately 282 billion VND. With 4 downward sessions and 1 upward session, in this week, HASTC-Index has lost a total of 32.15 points (from 152.02 points of the previous week down to 119.87 points).

Think of environment when you want to print it out