At a meeting with commercial banks on February 11, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh asked the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) and commercial banks to consider providing more preferential credit packages to both realtors and consumers to develop social housing, housing for young people under 35, and for those facing difficulties.

Minh Thu, 30, and her husband were excited about the news as it means that they can have the chance to buy a home in Hanoi after nearly 10 years of living and working in the capital city.

Thu said buying a home is incredibly challenging, especially for young couples like them, who have income of just VND30 million a month. Only when young people can access preferential credit packages will they be able to buy a home of their own.

If there is a package providing mortgages with low interest rates for young people, it would be a significant opportunity for many couples to realize their dream of settling down.

Vu Kim Giang, president of SGO Corporation, thinks this is good news if banks offer preferential loans to fund home purchases because this will have positive influences on the real estate market. Once the supply is plentiful and products are diverse, the real estate market will develop.

In fact, some preferential credit packages have been launched, including one worth VND30 trillion. The package allowed many people access loans and buy homes. And if another similar package is launched, with loans for 10 years or longer, this would be good news for both buyers and sellers.

If realtors can borrow money for 5-10 years from banks at stable interest rates, about 8 percent per annum or lower, their project development costs would be lower and their products offered at more reasonable prices.

To help young people aged under 35 buy homes, loans with interest rates of 5-6 percent per annum are reasonable, according to Giang.

Nguyen Duc Toan, CEO of EZ Property, thinks that if a preferential credit package is launched for people aged under 30, this would create a social security opportunity for many young people today. 

“People under 35 are the major workers in the society, and if they have stable accommodations to settle down, they will feel secure to devote themselves to the society development and contribute to the country’s socio-economic development,” Toan commented.

This group represents the main workforce, and if prioritized with stable housing, "they will be more capable of contributing to socio-economic development," Pham Duc Toan, CEO of EZ Property, said.

However, the question is whether there should be a separate fund or integration with existing preferential credit packages.

Toan thinks the latter is a good solution.

“The VND30 trillion credit package launched some months ago is a good package which many people can access. There should be a separate credit package to make it easier for both realtors and buyers to access,” Toan said.

The realtors which want to access the package to develop social housing should be given favorable conditions to get loans with simplified procedures. 

Meanwhile, lenders, or banks, should make decisions to provide loans based on projects’ feasibility, rather than set stringent requirements for enterprises.

Simple procedures should also be applied to home buyers, while loans should be long term, up to 30 years, to help reduce the amount of money home buyers have to pay monthly. The interest rate of 5 percent on average is reasonable.

“It would be better for young people buying a home to pay about VND6-8 million monthly including principal and interest. For a couple earning VND30 million a month and raising two children, paying over 10 million VND a month for a home loan would not be feasible," Toan explained.

Moreover, the bottlenecks in legal regulations should be addressed to encourage localities to develop social housing to create a diverse supply source.

Offering low-interest loans is humane and should be implemented, Dinh Trong Thinh, a respected economist, said, adding that these loans could be integrated into existing housing loan packages, such as the VND145 trillion credit package.

Tuan Nguyen