Tuoi Tre has gone through the financial statements of 60 Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange listed real estate firms and found that there has been an increase in inventory of 3 percent over the end of 2022 and 30 percent over the end of 2021. They valued the inventory at VND 348 trillion or US$14 billion.
In brief, what looks to have happened in Vietnam’s well over-leverage real estate sector, is that the high profile arrests of several individuals leading real estate firms in Vietnam spooked consumers. As a result, new buyers dried up and without new deposits real estate firms didn’t have enough money to finish their projects. This then spooked investors more and that was it, real estate was in a hole and for the better part of a year and a half it has been trying to dig its way out–these figures would suggest this has been to no avail.
This article also points out that project approvals and red tape are also causing problems for the sector.
Of note, Tuoi Tre also found that average real estate turn over in 2018 was 659 days, however, this skyrocketed to 1,562 days in 2022, although settled at around 1,283 in 2023.