Unlike the office leasing market, now quiet because of low demand, the leasing market for upscale store sites in Ho Chi Minh City has remained bouyant even in the economic downturn, reports the Saigon Economic Times.

Office rents in Ho Chi Minh City, the country’s financial and economic driver, continued their freefall in the second quarter of this year, a recent report from real estate service provider CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) Vietnam stated.

Owners of old apartments in the capital city of Ha Noi have found themselves sitting on increasingly valuable pieces of real estate.

The downturn in global tourism and business travel continues to impact on hotels in HCMC as occupancy and room rates took a double-digit plunge in the second quarter.

The construction of the Hoa Hoi industrial zone was started by Hoa Hoi joint stock company in Cat Hanh commune, Phu Cat district, Binh Dinh province on July 29.

The Hanoi People’s Committee said Monday it was examining the Department of Construction’s petition for an estimated VND12 billion (US$674,000) for a safety inspection of 80 old apartment buildings.

The Government is to consider a plan to raise the compensation of arable land to twice that of residential land to protect food supplies.

Local investors will continue to be main players in the real estate market in the short and medium term, and will seek assets from foreigners looking to leave the market, an international conference heard last Saturday.

Phu Long Real Estate Corporation yesterday launched sales of its Kim Long Luxury Villas property project which is under construction in HCMC's Nha Be District.

It was recorded in July that high-end apartment and foundation land markets were quiet while transactions of houses and apartments from VND11 million to VND15 million per sqm increased. Nguyen Manh Ha, head of the Construction Ministry's Housing and Real Estate Market Management Bureau called it real demand of the market.

While existing apartments priced at over $1,000 per square metre are selling very slowly due to low demand, a lot of new projects are still being marketed. Experts have warned that the massive investment in the market segment will lead to oversupply.