Last February, Ms. Thu Hang (34 years old, from Quang Ninh) just finalized the purchase of a 40m2 house for 3.2 billion VND in a small alley on Vu Tong Phan street (Thanh Xuan district, Hanoi).
Ms. Hang said that her initial intention was to buy an apartment, but later changed her mind to buy land because the price of apartments increased too fast.
Before that, Ms. Hang and her husband rented a house in Thanh Xuan district because it was close to their workplace. Last year, her husband switched jobs to Ha Dong district. His new job required him to come home late at night, so Ms. Hang discussed with her husband to buy an apartment in Ha Dong.
“In September 2023, I went online to check the prices of apartments with an area of about 65m2, 2 bedrooms, and 2 bathrooms in an apartment building in Duong Noi. The prices were around 2-2.2 billion VND. When I asked a broker, they quoted around 2.1 billion VND. I was surprised because in April 2023, a colleague of mine bought a similar apartment in that building for only 1.75 billion VND. In just 5 months, the apartment price increased by nearly half a billion VND,” Ms. Hang shared.
Seeing the high price of apartments, Ms. Hang and her husband decided not to buy and waited for the price to decrease. During that time, they also considered another option, which was to look at houses and land near their current location.
Ms. Hang said that recently, the broker informed her that the price of apartments in the building increased again, and the same apartment now costs 2.2 billion VND. Seeing the high price and inconvenient location, Ms. Hang and her husband decided to buy land instead.
The high price of apartments makes many people tend to look for houses in alleys. Photo: Hong Khanh. |
“Although I had to borrow more money, as the old saying goes ‘Something you have is something you can keep,’ so I accepted it. In the long run, I think land and houses will continue to increase steadily and more stably. Besides, my child is starting first grade this year, and in Thanh Xuan, there are more advantages in choosing schools and studying,” she said.
In the context of high apartment prices, Mr. Minh Quang (from Bac Giang) is also changing plans and looking to buy a house in an alley.
The 42-year-old man said that with the initial amount of 2.3 billion VND at the beginning of 2023, he could afford to buy an apartment of about 55m2, with 2 bedrooms in an apartment building in Nam Tu Liem district, Hanoi. But now, to buy that apartment, he needs about 2.7-2.8 billion VND.
“I am asking a broker to find a house in an alley in the Dai Mo area for me. The criteria are a price of under 3 billion VND and at least 3 bedrooms because I have a son and a daughter, and I want them to have separate rooms,” Mr. Quang said.
Houses in the price range of 2-4 billion VND attract customers
According to Mr. Hoang Phuong, director of a real estate trading floor in Hoang Mai district (Hanoi), the number of people interested in houses in small alleys has increased in recent months.
The most popular segment is houses with an area of 30-40m2 and prices around 3-4 billion VND. This price range is suitable for the financial ability of many people, so it attracts customers. Most buyers have a real demand for living.
“Some customers immediately determined that they wanted to buy land or houses, while others told me that due to the high prices of apartments, they decided to switch to buying houses,” Mr. Phuong said.
A report from a real estate market research company showed that while many segments of the real estate market were facing difficulties, houses in alleys in Hanoi are still attracting attention and experiencing growth in transactions. Compared to the same period last year, detached houses in the districts of Dong Da, Ha Dong, Hai Ba Trung, and Hoang Mai have increased by 4-8%. The highest increase is in detached houses in Tay Ho district, with a 9% increase.
Experts in the real estate industry explained that land is limited, but the demand for housing is high. Therefore, detached houses in alleys with prices ranging from 2-4 billion VND, suitable for people’s income and financial ability, are always attractive and have stable liquidity. This segment does not fluctuate abruptly like some other segments related to market fluctuations, policy changes, and planning information.
However, Mr. Phuong said that while apartments usually have a common price range, with little difference between units, land and houses are more difficult to price due to factors such as location, frontage, shape of the land plot, age of the house, etc.
Hong Khanh
