Purchasing Suburban Condos: The Trade-off Between Affordability and Grueling Commutes

In Hanoi, the concept of affordable housing has all but disappeared, with even the 2 billion VND segment becoming “extinct”. Moreover, the land fund for building apartments in the inner city is becoming increasingly scarce, forcing investors to move their projects to the suburbs. Many residents are also immediately changing trends and buying houses in the suburbs to have a place to live before these areas can “sell out” in the future.

Mr. Nguyen Van Dan (from Nam Dinh) said that his and his wife’s income is around 30 million VND per month. After more than 10 years of working in Hanoi, they have saved up about 1 billion VND. He, his wife, and their two children have been living in a rented house for many years, but due to the increasing rent, they decided to take out a bank loan to buy an apartment.

After surveying many places over a long period, he realized that with more than 2 billion VND, he could only afford an apartment in the outskirts, such as Hoai Duc or Dan Phuong districts. After considering various factors, they chose to buy an apartment in Chuong My district for more than 2 billion VND, accepting to pay more than 15 million VND in principal and interest to the bank each month.

However, the biggest pressure for his family is not the monthly interest payment but the daily commute. “I work in Hai Ba Trung district, my wife works in Ba Dinh district, and our children go to school in Cau Giay district. Every day, my wife and I spend 2 hours commuting because the distance is too far, about 40 km/trip, and the roads are always congested,” Mr. Dan shared.

According to Mr. Dan, on rainy days when the roads are flooded, his family suffers even more, always running late for work and school. “I have to spend 4 hours a day getting to and from work; it’s bearable for a short time, but in the long run, both my wife and I are exhausted. Even those who can afford to drive a car would feel tired, let alone us who have to commute by motorbike,” he said.

Because of the long commute to work and school, his family has to wake up at 5 am and return home at 8 pm every day. “We hardly have any time to rest because, besides working hours, we also spend 4-5 hours on the road,” Mr. Dan shared.

Unable to bear the long commute, Mr. Dan had to sell the apartment in Chuong My and rent a small house in the inner city again. “Although the living conditions are more cramped and inconvenient, and we have to live in a rented house again, at least our family doesn’t have to wake up early to go to work. We have time to rest after a long tiring day. I realized that it’s not just about buying a house; we also need to consider whether it fits our current circumstances. Spending billions of VND and struggling with a long commute every day is not a sustainable solution,” Mr. Dan concluded.

Meanwhile, Mr. Le Anh Minh (from Ha Nam) is in a dilemma where “leaving is not an option, but staying is unbearable.” He bought an apartment in Quoc Oai district for nearly 3 billion VND. When promoting the project, the investor advertised that despite being 40km away from the center of Hanoi, the travel time would only be 30 minutes due to the good road infrastructure. However, in reality, Mr. Minh spends more than 2 hours commuting every day and sometimes doesn’t even make it on time due to heavy traffic and a mix of large vehicles such as trucks and containers, which is very dangerous.

After struggling with the long commute for some time, he decided to rent a small apartment along his commute to reduce travel time. On weekends, his family returns to their home in the suburbs. As a result, he has to spend an additional VND 10 million on rent each month.