VietRees_Newsletter_54_Week4_Month10_Year08

Weekly Newsletter Vietnam Real Estate A54

Week 4, October

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

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Market situation (p.2)

Real estate foreign investment (p.2)

Vietnam in the world (p.3)

Real estate agents (p.3)

Websites of real estate companies in Vietnam (p.4)

Real estate projects and prices (p.5)

Real estate supply for customer groups (p.7)

Real estate legislation (p.8)

Real estate market forecast (p.9)

Construction material market last week (p.9)

Stock market last week (p.9)

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

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VietRees – Vietnam Real Estate www.VietRees.com Viet Nam Real Estate Newsletter A54 Page 2

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MARKET SITUATION

Construction material prices down, enterprises speed up construction Tien Phong – 22 Oct, 2008

From the end of 2007 until the middle of 2008, there has been many contractors seeking to extend the construction progress due to the dizzy increases in the construction material prices and labour costs. Brick prices have tripled, the steel prices have doubled and labour costs have also risen by 35 – 40% etc. Basing on the contracts whose prices have been adjusted, the contractors have increased the bid prices of the projects in progress and the investors have also put up the prices of the products for customers. However, in the recent 2 months, the situation has a tendency to reverse its direction, the construction material prices have plummeted, especially the prices of steel and cement. The reduction in the construction costs of the projects has urged the contractors to speed up the construction progress with the purpose of ensuring that the projects would closely follow the contracts signed with the customers. With a judgment that the Vietnamese real estate market will soon become eventful in the late 2009, this period is a good opportunity for the projects and works to accelerate and complete. In addition, the stability and the development future of the real estate market also play an important role. According to some experts’ prediction, the construction unit price may be adjusted to increase in the early 2009. Because some input materials will be gradually removed from the state’s subsidization as from January 1st, 2009, the government will allow some adjustments to some commodities for a long term such as electricity, coal, water etc. This will be one of the factors that push the prices of many kinds of other input materials up.

Hanoi real estate prices continue to decline Thanh Nien – 23 Oct, 2008

After standing at the high level for a long period of time, the Ha Noi real estate market has seen signs of price decreases, especially the suburban areas and the expanded area in Hanoi. Although the prices have fallen by about 30% as compared with the beginning of the year and drawn the attention of those who have real housing demands, but the successful transactions are still inconsiderable. The main reason is due to customers are still expecting further price decreases, especially in the context of banks still tightening loans and the impact of the financial crisis in the world. According to some real estate brokers’ assessment, currently, apartment prices in Hanoi are at thereasonable level of 15 - 17 million VND/m2. Construction prices have been approximately 12 - 13 million VND/m2. However, due to the transactions at this time are mainly buying and selling of those who have real demands for dwellings, the old apartment buildings in Hanoi still have many more advantages. This includes the appropriate areas, convenient traffic and close to centers, although prices are only 14 - 15 million VND/m2. This is a very difficult time for the real estate transactions and it is more difficult for the projects starting to come on sale, especially the products with "high-grade" brand. Currently, the customers are tending to seek the apartments and land lots of below 1.5 billion VND for the housing demands. Accordingly, the market of buying and selling high-end apartments for speculation or for lease is extremely limited by the shortage of the support from the banks.

Real estate: many favorable factors for the recovery Ha Noi Moi – 24 Oct, 2008

According to the previous forecast of experts, the construction market will grow negatively from -0.8 to -1.0% within this year. But at present, when the prices of construction materials are plummeting, bank loans are increasing and interest drops; opportunities for the recovery of real estate and construction industry are coming. In the beginning of 2008, when the monetary policies was tightened and the bank loans involved in real estate were limited temporarily; the real estate projects lost their credit sources, the progress got sluggish and construction services were also affected. Moreover, material prices and labor cost spiked and the State cut down its investment, which caused difficulties for the construction industry. Normally, construction materials always soar in accordance with the demand in the end of the year. However, after a long time of dramatic increases, the construction material prices in the end of 2008 are sliding sharply. Additonally, during the recent month, the loan interests has kept going down, the capital sources has been abundant and the banks are getting ready to restart the real estate loan programs. Through the fluctuations in the construction material prices and the dynamics of banks in the recent time, some experts think that the investors and contractors will promptly speed up the construction progress to complete the projects and have the capital for the new projects. Therefore, the real estate market will soon become evenful at the end of 2009 and reach its peak in 2010.

REAL ESTATE FOREIGN INVETSMENT

One more 4 star hotel in Quang Ninh VietRees – 20 Oct, 2008

The Novotel 4-star hotel that is located on Ha Long street, Bai Chay ward, Ha Long city and invested and managed by Accord International Hotel Group (France) has been put into operation. The Novotel with 12 storeys is designed following European architecture, including 214 hotel rooms, high-class restaurants, swimming pools, Ha Long Bay and Bai Tu Long tours. The rental prices for the rooms at the Novotel is about 110 USD/room/ day.

Brand name of Mercure hotel enters Vietnam TheSaiGonTimes – 22 Oct, 2008

The international hotel management group Accor has shown that Mercure Hue Gerbera Hotel would be opened in the first quarter of 2009. Mercure Hue Gerbera Hotel has 107 rooms, located on Le Loi street, including restaurants, bars, spa rooms, outdoor swimming pools, gyms and other conference facilities. The two hotels Mercure Ha Noi La Gare and Mercure Hanoi Hado are expected to be opened in 2009 and 2010.

Constructing a trade center along the subway line Tuoi Tre – 24 Oct, 2008

The joint-venture between Thanh Danh Production - Trading Company Ltd. and Titanium Management Company (Malaysia) has submitted to the People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City the building plan of 6 railway stations along the subway line (from Bach Dang Wharf, District 1 to the West coach station, Binh Tan District). The stations will include trade centers, supermarkets, entertainment areas, hotels, office buildings, car parks and etc to meet the demands of traveling, shopping and the activities of the locals.


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

Until the third quarter of 2008, the heavy industry has still been the field attracting the great attention of the foreign investors. In addition, all of the remaining fields have increased in the project number as well as the total investment.

VIETNAM IN THE WORLD Vietnam ups 6 grades in the global business rankings Edited by VietRees

According to the board ranking business environments worldwide (including 82 countries) announced on 19th Nov, 2008 by a US-based branch of Economic Intelligence Unit, Vietnam has moved up 6 ranks from the rank 71st for the 2004 - 2008 to the rank 65th for the 2009 - 2013 period. The main cause that has helped Vietnam’s ranking increase is that the business environment has been improved after Vietnam joins WTO. Additionally, the company writes that in 2009 - 2010, Vietnam will improve the operation environment for private enterprises in line with the implementation of new legislation and until the 2011 - 2013 period, many state-owned enterprises will be privatized. In the meantime, the reformed personal income tax system will come to effect in January, 2009. The company forecasts that the real GDP growth of Vietnam in 2009 will drop to 5.3%. However, according to the company, foreign investors are still confident about the business future in Vietnam.

REAL ESTATE AGENTS

Opening the service of searching houses via messages Tuoi Tre – 20 Oct, 2008

On October 20th, 2008, DiaOcOnline network opened the service of "Mobile search house" in order to serve the people who have the demands of buying properties. The service supports all of the subscribers who are using the mobile networks of Mobile, Vina and Viettel. This is the tool of seeking houses via messages with the purpose of helping customers save time and effort in their searching process. Customers can select the requests on the website and receive the search results in their mobile phones when there is a suitable property updated on the page of real estate listings.

The City ratifies some new projects Thanh Nien – 21 Oct, 2008

Saigon Construction Corporation has ratified the value of the using rights for the land plot No.79B Ly Thuong Kiet Street, Ward 8, Tan Binh District by People's Committee of Ho Chi Minh City to implement the construction investment project of the apartment building. The total value of the land use right and the construction work on the land plot of the project is over 252 billion VND. In addition, the People's Committee of the City has also approved the project of planning the quadrangular area Le Loi - Nguyen Hue - Dong Khoi - Nguyen Thiep, District 1 into the trade centers –offices for lease and high-class hotels which are invested and constructed by Saigontourist.

Petrowaco opens its real estate transaction center VietRees – 22 Oct, 2008

Petrowaco Property JSC is completing the legal formalities, material facilities and personnel matters in order to open Petrowaco standard property transaction center on December 1st, 2008. The transaction center is located at No.52 Quoc Tu Giam Street, Hanoi. It will operate in the fields of real estate sale and purchase, brokerage, transfer, lease, assessment, consulting, auction, advertising and management; exploitation etc.

Prudential offers loans for house purchase in Ho Chi Minh City VietRees – 22 Oct, 2008

Prudential Finance company will apply 2 programs including "loans for buying houses” and “borrow by house mortgages" since October, 2008 in Ho Chi Minh City. Customers can borrow a maximum of 75% of the property value within 5 - 20 years for the program of "loans for buying houses" and the loan is 160 million VND - 8 billion VND. For "borrow by house mortgages”, the loan does not exceed 50% of the property value and the loan period does not exceed 7 years, in which the loan is allowed to be from 160 million VND to 3.2 billion VND and the mortgaged property must have an area of over 40m2 and legal documents.

Tin Nghia opens its real estate transaction center Phap Luat – 23 Oct, 2008

Tin Nghia One Member Ltd. Company has held the opening ceremony for Tin Nghia standard real estate transaction center in Bien Hoa city, Dong Nai province in accordance with the regulation of the Ministry of Construction. The center mainly operates in the fields of real estate assessment, investment consulting, advertising, management, brokerage and etc. On this occasion, Tin Nghia company will receive the tasks of introducing the projects of Sacomreal and Green Land through its real estate transaction center. It is expected that in November, 2008, the training courses for getting the certificates of real estate brokerage, assessment, management, etc will be opened here.

CBRE introduces Vincom Park Place model apartments Ha Noi Moi – 23 Oct, 2008

On the morning of October 23rd, 2008, CB Richard Ellis Vietnam officially introduced the model apartments on the 7th storey of the Vincom Park Place project, located at 114 Mai Hac De Street, Hanoi for the customers registering for buying or leasing apartments. The payment plan is divided into 5 phases from the time of signing contracts until the time of apartment handovers. BIDV Bank (Quang Trung branch) will support the customers leasing the apartments with the maximum credit support of 70% from BIDV within 15 years.


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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

Ratifying the project of Phuoc Thien residential area Phap Luat – 18 Oct, 2008

The construction project of Phuoc Thien residential area and park in Long Thanh My and Long Binh wards, Dist.9 with an area of over 310 hectares has just been approved by the City’s People's Committee and temporarily assigned to Green City Developing JSC and The University of Architecture to construct the urban area and universities. In the project, the housing area is 187 hectares (accounting for 58.80%), service – work area is 60.91 hectares, the area for green tree parks is over 52 hectares, the area for traffic is 18.12 hectares and etc. The two above units will cooperate with the People's Committee of District 9 to implement the compensation and site clearance.

Constructing the largest tourism site – film studio in Viet Nam Vnagency – 23 Oct, 2008

On the morning of October 23rd, HCM city’s Tan Tao Group announced the detailed planning of building Vina Universal largest tourist site – film studio in Viet Nam with a total investment of 50 million USD. The project was built in Duc Pho suburban district, Quang Ngai province with an area of nearly 2,570 hectares. This will be the general service of trade and tourism in the region with many forms such as cultural tourism, sea travel and ecotourism combining with the urban residential areas and the rural residential areas.

Preparing for the construction of 19-12 trade – service center Ha Noi Moi – 24 Oct, 2008

People's Committee of Hoan Kiem District has shown that 19-12 market will be moved in the early October, 2008 to serve the construction of the complex of 19-12 trade – service Center. The project includes 2 blocks of houses with 17 storeys and 3 basements, 1 technical-storey on a total area of over 3.000 m2. The project is expected to be completed before October 10th, 2010.

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 3, October 2008 Week 4, October 2008

Ho Chi Minh City Phuoc Thien residential area (Dist.9)

Other Areas RAAS eco-tourism site (Nha Trang) Dream Palace Resort (Thua Thien-Hue) Thanh Tri functional urban area (Ha Noi) Nghi Son island eco-tourism site (Thanh Hoa) Biti’s complex trade center area (Dak Lak)

Vina Universal tourism site – film studio (Quang Ngai) 19-12 trade – service center (Hanoi)

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)

Apartment building No.1 – No.31 Calmette Street (Dist.1) Resettlement area at Phu My Ward (Dist.7) 79B Ly Thuong Kiet apartment building (Tan Binh Dist.) Binh Chieu apartment buidling (Thu Duc Dist.) Binh Tri Dong apartment building (Binh Tan Dist.) Tan Kien apartment buidling (Binh Chanh)

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


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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 * 80m2 – 31.7 million VND/m2

* 100m2 – 35 million VND/m2

V- star, Dist.7 * 97.5m2 – 16.8 million VND/m2

* 119.2m2 - 17.5 million VND/m2

Sky Garden 3, Dist.7 * 81m2 – 27.2 million VND/m2

* 91m2 – 29.6 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 * 85m2 – 22 million VND/m2 * 91m2 – 23 million VND/m2

The Everich, Dist.11 * 111m2 – 1,750 USD/m2 * 161m2 – 2,000 USD/m2

Preche, Dist.2 * 147m2 – 2,300 USD/m2

* 154m2 – 2,500 USD/m2

Panorama, Dist.7 * 140m2 – 34.7 million VND/m2


Saigon Pearl, B.Thanh * 98m2 – 2,050 USD/m2

* 122m2 – 2,250 USD/m2

The Vista, Dist.2 * 140m2 – 1,636 USD/m2

BMC Hung Long, Dist.7 * 98.9m2 – 18.6 million VND/m2


The Manor, B.Thanh * 67m2 – 1,800 USD/m2 * 100m2 – 2,000 USD/m2

District Area (m2)

Price (million VND/m2) +/-

Apartment building – HCMC BMC – Ben Chuong Duong 1 105 30 + The Lancaster 1 120 75 + An Thinh 2 140 21 Binh Minh 2 104 15.5 Orient 4 71.72 28 - Hung Vuong Plaza 5 121 35 An Phu 6 91 18 Bong Sao 8 59.8 12 - E.Home 9 48 10 Tan Tao BT 91 9 Dat Phuong Nam BTH 141 23.7 + Phuc Yen TB 122 13.9 Riverside Garden TD 81 17 Development land lots – HCMC Gia Hoa 2 140 9 An Phu Hung 7 88 23.5 ADC 7 95 17 Ung Thanh 8 88 8.6 Khang An 9 144 7.5 - Hai Yen BC 85 8 Trung Son BC 100 31 - Sadeco – Phuoc Kieng NB 100 11 Hong Linh NB 100 11 Apartment building - Ha Noi Trung Van CG 71.2 15.5 -

Yen Hoa CG 61 19.5 - Dich Vong CG 61 19 Hacinco ĐĐ 114 26.5 Viet Hung LB 234 30.5 +

Ciputra TH 126 30 Nang Huong TX 68 13.7 + Development land lots – Other provinces My Phuoc 3 BD 300 1.27 - Viet – Sing BD 100 4.4 + Long Dien BR-VT 135 2.8 Barimex BR-VT 300 2.2 Licogi 16 DNI 240 5.3 HUD DNI 285 2.2 + Tan Do LA 105 4

1 Kien A Investment & Services Co., Ltd. - An Phu Ward, District 2, HCMC - Tel: (84.8) 740 6688, Fax: (84.8) 740 6949

Danang: 225 Huyen Tran Cong Chua - T: (84) 511 836 216 * HCMC: 390 Nguyen Cong Tru, D.1 - T: 8 821 7509 * Hanoi: No.6-1D Trung Yen New Town, Caugiay - T: 4 783 1598


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PROPERTY SUPPLY FOR DIFFERENT TARGETS OF CUSTOMERS

Social wefare houses for worker VietRees

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

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

Only write down floor area of apartment in certificate Ha Noi Moi – 20 Oct, 2008

Housing and Real Estate Market Management Bureau has just promulgated a document providing the guidelines on the way of calculating the area of the apartments when producing the certificates of house ownership and land use rights. Accordingly, for the units in the apartment buildings, just the floor area of the apartment should be written down (except the area of the walls and general column frames) and the total usable area of the apartment building should not be written in the certificate of apartment ownership. In the case of investors and house buyers having the commitments and specific agreements on drawing, measuring and writing down the areas of the apartments in the certificates of house ownership when signing contracts of sale and purchase, the implementation should follow those commitments and agreements. In the case that there is no specific agreements and yet, the real usable area of the apartment at the time of handover has no change as compared with the design drawings, the real area of the apartment should be written in the certificate of house ownership.

People from outside provinces also qualify to be granted certificates of real estate brokerage Phap Luat – 22 Oct, 2008

The individuals who do not have permanent residences or long-term temporary residences in Ho Chi Minh City and yet are trained and provided the knowledge of real estate brokerage and assessment at the training centers in the city (including the branches of the training centers at the provinces) qualify to be considered for the granting of the certificates of real estate brokerage and assessment. It is one of the main articles in the Guiding document that was sent to the Department of Construction by Ministry of Construction, providing the guidelines on the granting of the certificates of real estate brokerage and assessment. This guiding document also clearly shows that those who ask to be granted or re-issued the certificates of real estate brokerage and assessment should submit the standard registration forms for the granting of these certificates with the confirmation of the People's Committee at the communes or wards where they are residing or at the organizations where they working. According to the Ministry, there will be specific guidelines on the granting of the certificates of real estate brokerage and assessment for the foreigners and Vietnamese people abroad in the near future.

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.


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CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL MARKET

Construction material prices down, yet demand does not soar Edited by VietRees

Unlike the eventfulness of the months in the beginning and middle of the year 2008, the construction material market is now plummeting. The steel prices have dropped by 6.5 – 7 million VND/ton, down to 13 million VND/ton. In September, the consumption was only 110,000 tons and the inventory of steel was nearly 500,000 tons. Until now, the cement prices have dramatically declined as compared with the fever at the middle of 2008. The cement prices have ranged from 850,000 – 900,000 VND/ton in the North and from 1.2 – 1.25 million VND/ton in the South. Although the prices have gone down, the consumption has still been in dribs and drabs. The prices of enamelled tile of all types have decreased by 5,000 VND/m2 as compared with July. The price of yellow sand has fallen by 7,000 VND/m3. The price of construction brick has slid by 50 VND/brick. In order to take back the capital, enterprises are obliged to reduce the selling prices, even they have to suffer losses to pay the bank interest. Addionally, the decline in the steel ingot prices in the world has made the prices of the domestic products go down. On the other hand, many trade enterprises formerly held on to the products to wait for the further price increases, but now they have to sell off to pay the bank interests. As a result, the supply on the market has dramatically risen. In addition, currently, the Southern provinces are in the rainy season, which makes the construction sluggish. Another reason is that the implementation of 8 groups of solutions limiting the inflation suggested by the government has made many investment projects delay or extend the progress or stop the construction. In the current context, the price reduction or the implementation of the promotion program kicking the demand of the enterprises is considered as the most optimal thing.

STOCK MARKET

Setting new bottom, VN-Index loses 15.32 points, HASTC-Index loses a further 3.76 points Edited by VietRees Chart source: Vietstock Up to date: 24 Oct, 2008

At HCM bourse, right at the opening time, the trend of losing points continues, the electronic transaction board has been flooded with selling orders. VN-Index has plummeted below the threshold of 350 points to record at 346.51 points in this phase after losing 13.92 points. The total trading volume has reached 2.9 million units. Entering the consecutive order matching, the transaction situation on the market is very gloomy. The volume of matched shares is inconsiderable, VN-Index has slid a further 1.13 points as compared with the first phase and closed at 345.38 points. Ending the session, VN-Index has lost a total of 15.32 points (or 4.25%) and closed at 345,11 points. The total trading volume on the whole market has reached 13.1 million units worth over 450.8 billion VND. After one trading week, VN-Index has 4 downward sessions and 1 upward trading. As compared with the last week, VN-Index has dropped by 37.40 points, from 381.51 points (on 17th Nov) to 345.11 points. At Hanoi bourse, HASTC-Index has lost a further 3.76 points to close at 111.58 points (equivalent to a 3.26% decrease). The total trading volume on the whole market has reached over 8.7 million units with a value of nearly 216.85 billion VND. In this week, HASTC-Index has seen 4 downward sessions and 1 upward session. HASTC-Index has lost a total of 13.74 points against the last week (from 125.32 points down to 111.58 points).