As a contract primary school teacher in Nam Dinh with a modest income, in 2021, Ms. Cao Thi My Hanh decided to quit her job and work as a real estate broker in the Ha Dong district and Chuong My district in Hanoi when the market was heating up.
During the real estate boom, with increasing house prices, she successfully brokered 5 – 7 properties each month, earning hundreds of millions of dong. However, since the end of 2022, the real estate market has been stagnant, and for many months, Hanh has not been able to close any land deals.
“Due to the difficult market conditions without any transactions, I had to return to my hometown to sell goods online with my sister for income, even though I knew the income was far less than being a real estate broker”, Hanh said.
However, Hanh has now returned to Hanoi to continue working as a real estate broker. When asked why, Hanh said: “From November 2023 until now, the real estate market has started to pick up. After monitoring for a while and with the analysis of experts and my own experience and knowledge, I believe that the real estate market will have more positive signs in 2024. That’s why I am continuing with this profession to earn a higher income. If I don’t seize the opportunity now, I might have to face more competition later.”
“Since November 2023, I have introduced several plots of land in the Ha Dong and Chuong My areas, and the income is much better. Not only me, but many other colleagues have also gradually returned to the brokerage profession as the real estate market has quickly regained momentum,” shared Hanh.
Real estate brokers return to the profession as the market recovers. (Illustrative photo: VnEconomy)
Sharing with VTC News, Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Nhat, a real estate broker in Thanh Xuan district (Hanoi), said that over the past 2 months, his office is no longer deserted with only 1 owner and 2-3 employees trying to stay in the profession. Now, there are 6 old employees returning and a few new ones joining.
“Recently, the market has shown signs of recovery, with more successful transactions creating trust for many people to return to the real estate brokerage profession. Previously, there were days when we didn’t receive any phone calls from customers, but now our employees have to work regularly because the number of inquiries is increasing. The office’s current transactions are relatively good, with no longer a situation where we only have one client for a whole month. Properties located near the center and with good positions are always easy to sell,” said Nhat.
According to Ms. Pham Thi Thuy, a land broker in Phu Ly (Ha Nam), the land market in the province has not experienced much fluctuation compared to the end of 2023, but many brokers have returned to the profession and now work in both fields as the market is no longer “frozen” as before.
“Mainly, transactions still come from real customers. Professional investors are waiting for the opportunity to decide when to invest. Properties with good locations and reasonable prices still have good sales opportunities. Currently, I am actively promoting advertisements to find customers. In the past, there were no transactions, and the income was poor, so I didn’t dare to invest much in advertising,” said Thuy.
The real estate market in 2024 will gradually heat up
Dr. Nguyen Van Dinh, Chairman of the Vietnam Real Estate Brokers Association, commented that the real estate market in the last months of 2023 and the beginning of 2024 is gradually recovering, with differentiation by segment and region due to different absorption capacities. One of the major bottlenecks of the market is the monetary policy, which has gradually been untangled in 2023 and will become more flexible and loose in 2024, facilitating businesses and people’s access more easily than before.
“Real estate has been and is recovering. Of course, compared to the golden period, it has only recovered about 20-30%. But from now on, the market will develop under a better scenario. The big push will start from the first quarter of 2024, as interest rates have dropped deeply, and the permeability of policies is better at that time,” analyzed Dinh.
However, Dinh also believes that real estate will have slow and steady growth, rather than a sudden surge. The real estate market will not develop rapidly and opportunistically like the previous growth phase but will develop in a healthy and sustainable direction.
The market will undergo a process of filtering customers’ decisions based on intuition, avoiding excessive use of financial leverage, and only being suitable for customers with real needs or investors with sustainable finances and an understanding of the market.
“The recovery of real estate will definitely create a wave of real estate brokers returning to the profession. To be ahead, some real estate companies have actively sought to recruit staff and prepare for the new development phase of the market,” said Dinh.
The intentions of brokers who have quit their jobs and are considering returning to the profession are seen as positive signs for the real estate market in the coming time.
