APARTMENT CONSUMPTION DROPPED SHARPLY BECAUSE OF CREDIT SQUEEZE

In July, the city sold only 819 new apartments, a sharp decrease from three months ago, at the same time as banks controlled credit.

The latest apartment report of DKRA Vietnam said that in the first month of the third quarter, apartment liquidity continued to decline sharply in the primary market (the investor offered for the first time) after the secondary market. quiet for many months. This is a sign that condominium consumption is heavily affected by banks move to strengthen credit control.

Specifically, last July, Ho Chi Minh City only sold 819 apartments in the new basket, halving compared to June and April (selling 1,995 and 1,698 units respectively) and 7 times lower than forever. apartment capacity in May (sold 5,928 units).

If including Ho Chi Minh City and the surrounding area (including Binh Duong, Long An, Dong Nai, Ba Ria - Vung Tau, Tay Ninh), the consumption of apartments in July only reached 1,171 units, far behind other months 4, 5, 6 (sold 2,000-6,900 units).

Last month also marked the milestone when the absorption rate of apartments in the primary market fell to the lowest level since the beginning of this year. DKRA explained that the weakening of apartment liquidity shows the markets psychological reaction due to credit control and the fear of macro developments that will not support the real estate market in the near future.

A survey by VnExpress shows that from the middle of the second quarter to now, apartment liquidity has slowed down in both the primary and secondary markets. A representative of an apartment project investor in the old Thu Duc district said that the offer in May but did not sell as expected had to close the shopping basket waiting for more positive information to support the market in the near future. .

Meanwhile, the brokerage of an apartment project in the old district of 9 acknowledged that the number of bookings for the new basket in June had dropped by more than 50% compared to the first quarter of the year, leading to the number of customers signing home purchase contracts as well. significantly reduced in July.

Recorded in the secondary market (investors buy and resell), the asking price of apartments as well as the liquidity in July all continued to decrease from the second half of the second quarter, largely due to the bottleneck in approving loan disbursement. home loan.

Mr. Dien, a customer who bought a 2.3 billion dong apartment in Thu Duc City, said that he had held the apartment for 16 months, paid 35% of the contract value, and thought he could sell it for profit on the advice of a broker. but the secondary market is quiet. Currently, he has run out of money to continue paying, but he knocks on the door to get a loan with difficulty when many banks run out of room and high interest rates.

Mr. Dien said he had been trying to sell goods at the original price for half a year, but there were no buyers. At the beginning of August, he continued to offer for sale below the cost of 100 million dong, not including the loss of brokerage fees.

Sentiment in the real estate market also dropped following the credit control move. The Consumer Sentiment Index report - published by Batdongsan in July, conducted per 1,000 people in the Vietnamese market - shows that participants in the real estate market have decreased their optimism level in the second half of the year. end of the year compared to the beginning of the year.

The report said that consumer optimism fell the most when it came to the possibility of future real estate price increases (down 22 points) and the current policies of the Government (down 9 points).

Specifically, 14% of respondents rated the Governments policies as positive, 19% viewed it negatively. Meanwhile, the majority of respondents to the above survey said that it is still not clear whether these guidelines and policies will have a good impact on regulating house prices because they need more time to be implemented. affect the market.

Mr. Nguyen Loc Hanh, General Director of Ngoc Asia Company, confirmed that the liquidity of apartments has been decreasing steadily since April, which coincides with the time when banks control credit. Initially, only apartments on the secondary market lost liquidity, now even the primary market is difficult to sell. This is a normal response in the context that real estate is still heavily dependent on credit flows.

Mr. Hanh analyzed, the segment of apartments with high prices has continuously escalated over the past time, but the low rental yield has significantly reduced the number of investors in this channel. The apartment market currently only serves a small number of investors and the vast majority of first-time homebuyers (F0) to live in or accumulate assets in the form of installments. Therefore, the move to control credit strongly affects the psychology of this group of customers who buy apartments with limited potential, causing consumption to decline.

CEO Ngoc Asia assessed that the banking industrys interest rate hikes in recent years, along with limiting credit flows to real estate or reviewing loan documents, tightened control of credit contracts. are making it difficult for people who have borrowed or are intending to take out a home loan. There are many cases of apartment buyers discharging their goods due to financial pressure, causing the selling price on the secondary market to decrease. However, the old customers wanted to exit quite a lot while the new customers were entangled in the fear of uncertain cash flow so they didnt join in, which made the liquidity quiet.

Mr. Hanh forecasts that apartment consumption in July of the lunar calendar may continue to be challenged due to the double psychological impact (credit control and transaction restriction in the month of Ngau). Even market sales may face difficulties during the third quarter and the peak sales season at the end of the year if the credit squeeze continues for a long time. Therefore, the condominium market will enter a strong screening in the second half of the year.