The Land Investor’s Lament: I Didn’t Buy, and Now I Regret It!

Following real estate agents, we surveyed land prices in Long Truong, Truong Thanh, and Long Phuoc wards (the old District 9, now Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City). Compared to 2015-2016, the land prices in these areas have increased by 4-7 times, depending on the location. A lot bigger than 50m2 in Long Truong Ward was offered for sale in 2015 at a price of 400-500 million VND/lot, now it has a price of 2.6-3 billion VND/lot (depending on the position), an increase of nearly 6 times compared to the beginning.

In Truong Thanh Ward, the increase in land prices is similar. Compared to 2025, the lots here have increased by 6-7 times. Except for some lots that are selling lower than the 2022 price by about 100-300 million VND/lot, most of them still maintain their prices in the context of a difficult market. A 100m2 land plot in this area, which was traded for 750 million VND in 2015, now sells for 5.5 billion VND/lot, an increase of more than 7 times in 9 years.

Meanwhile, in Long Phuoc Ward, the average price is currently around 35-40 million VND/m2. This price has “cooled down” compared to 2021 after a period of market volatility. Currently, a 54m2 land plot is sold for 2-2.1 billion VND.

These are the areas that used to be the “hot spots” of the land fever in District 9 in the period of 2015-2018. Currently, the price is sideways or slowly increasing compared to the beginning of 2022. However, compared to 8-9 years ago, many people have found it difficult to buy land to build houses here due to the high land prices.

After 8 years of returning to Long Phuoc Ward, Mr. S, who is currently doing business in District 7, expressed his regret when seeing the infrastructure and the large number of residents. Mr. S said that in 2016, he and some friends came to Long Phuoc Ward to explore the land at the invitation of a group of real estate agents. At that time, the land plots in this area ranged from 400-620 million VND/plot for a land area of 54-55m2 (depending on the position and whether it is on the front or back of the block).

At that time, although investors were quite bustling and real estate agents continuously closed deals, he and his friends were worried about the potential of the area and did not buy. The agent introduced to him two land plots on the front of the road with a price of 600 million VND each, i.e. 1.2 billion VND/pair (the land owner wants to sell the pair). Even though he had enough money to buy, Mr. S decided to look for investment opportunities in District 7. Currently, each of these land plots is worth 2.5 billion VND. The infrastructure has grown quite beautifully.

“At the time when I went to see the land with my friends, there were only trees and no residents around the land plot. Seeing the desertedness, I didn’t dare to take the risk, even though at that time I saw a lot of investors surfing the stakes and profiting from the price difference, and land prices continued to increase in a short period of time. For safety reasons, I regret it now,” said Mr. S with a laugh.

Accompanying us was Mr. Th, who is currently lodging in Thu Duc City and also owns a land plot in Long Phuoc Ward since 2016. However, Mr. Th intends to live there rather than invest in it. Although real estate agents have contacted him many times to buy the land at a price many times higher than the purchase price, Mr. Th refuses to sell.

It is known that this land plot has an area of 80m2, including a garden area. More than 50m2 is residential land for construction. In 2018, an enterprise made a project behind the land plot. They needed a road to access the project. Mr. Th’s land plot was worked on and compensated by the enterprise for nearly 300 million VND. Thus, the land he bought cost just over 200 million VND. Up to now, the value of the land plot is 2 billion VND/plot. “There was a time when I saw that the agents asked a lot, and I also wanted to sell because the price had increased many times compared to the purchase price. However, because I don’t have a house yet, I still want it to be a place of residence. I still regret that at that time, when I received compensation, I should have thought about buying more, which would have been better,” shared Mr. Th.

There are quite a few stories of investors missing out on opportunities and regretting not investing in the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City. About 10 years ago, areas such as District 9, District 12, Hoc Mon, Cu Chi, Binh Chanh, and Nha Be were sparsely populated and land prices were quite cheap. Many investors have made huge profits by buying and holding land, while many others have missed out on opportunities because they “disliked” the infrastructure. Now, even with billions of VND, investors find it difficult to find a piece of land on small roads. Even when the market is slow, the real estate price in the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City has been “set” high after many fluctuations and hot periods.

According to real estate agents, there are quite a few investors who are surprised by the infrastructure and regret missing out on opportunities when they return to the market in District 9 or the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City. They still believe in owning land even though the current rate of return has slowed down.

Currently, the land plots that are sold at a price a few hundred million VND lower than the market price at the beginning of 2022 are mostly owned by investors who have owned real estate since the period of 2014-2015. On the other hand, investors who entered the market in the last quarter of 2021 may have to accept selling at the original price or below the cost price. However, the psychology of “hunting for goods, hoarding land” of investors with ready finances is still going on discreetly.