The Soaring Property Market in Hanoi: Midnight Rain Can’t Stop Buyers in Their Tracks

The Hanoi real estate market has been on a roll since the start of 2024, with all segments, from apartments to land and villas, seeing a surge in demand. The heat is not limited to the city center, but has also spread to the outlying districts as supply tightens.

Recently, land auctions in the outskirts of Hanoi have been attracting attention, with winning bids reaching sky-high prices. This has further fueled the demand for apartments and land in the inner city. As a result, the number of potential buyers viewing properties has increased significantly over the past month, despite it being the seventh lunar month, which is traditionally considered inauspicious for property purchases and construction.

Mr. Nam, a real estate agent in Thanh Xuan district, shared: “Nowadays, buyers no longer hesitate to view and purchase properties during the seventh lunar month. Many people are actively looking, and if they find a suitable property, they will make a deposit and wait for an auspicious day in the eighth lunar month to finalize the transaction.”

According to Mr. Nam, the number of properties currently on the market is limited, so when a new listing appears, it attracts a large number of viewers. “For a five-story house priced at VND 7.2 billion, I had over a dozen groups of potential buyers visit from morning to midnight. The owner had to assign someone to stay at the house and open the door for viewers, especially in the evening when most people finished work. A young couple even made an appointment to view the property at 10 p.m.,” he said.

Mr. Thang, another real estate agent, confirmed the increase in evening viewings. “I’ve noticed that after the recent shock increase in apartment prices in Hanoi, there has been a corresponding rise in interest in land. Just last night, a land deal was closed after 10 p.m., despite the heavy rain and storm in the city. The buyer negotiated the final price with the owner and made a deposit, scheduling the notarization for another day,” he recounted.

According to Mr. Thang, buyers today have both the intention and financial capability to make quick decisions. If they like a property, they will act immediately for fear of missing out. This is especially true for alley houses in Hanoi priced at over VND 5 billion, which are targeted by both owner-occupiers and investors looking for a “reasonable” investment.

Mr. Thang added that those who decide to buy quickly at this stage are mostly afraid of losing out to other buyers. Many of them have missed out on good deals in the past and have had to pay a high price, literally, as Hanoi’s property prices soared.

A market research company surveyed that more than 50% of respondents are considering and actively preparing to buy a house in the next year. Most of these potential buyers have a middle-class income and have the financial resources to make a purchase.

According to Onehousing’s Q2 2024 report on the Hanoi land market, there were 22,000 land transactions in the first half of 2024, with a peak in April followed by a decrease in May and June. However, even with the decrease, the number of transactions in May and June reached 3,700 per month, higher than the beginning of the year.

The districts in the western part of Hanoi ( Cau Giay, Nam and Bac Tu Liem, and Ha Dong) saw the most transactions, accounting for 40% of the total land transactions in the city, with 9,000 transactions, 1.5 times higher than the eastern part.

For the second half of 2024, the land market is expected to record 23,000 transactions, mainly in the eastern and western parts of the city.