The supply of social housing remains scarce, with each project offering a limited number of units, far below public demand. Amid the thirst for affordable homes, many have placed trust in "privileged slot" offers from unofficial brokers. In these cases, money was paid, but no homes were delivered, posing a clear risk of total loss.

The Trung Van social housing project in Nam Tu Liem District in Hanoi was once a dream for many low-income families. The project includes 275 apartments, including 157 social housing units for sale, 68 for rent, and 50 commercial units.

The police found that 24 buyers transferred money into an account owned by Pham Thi Huong as payments or deposits for the social housing units. Of these, 14 buyers paid from VND500 million to VND1 billion to Huong. Some of them even paid VND2 billion at once to buy three apartments in the project. But none of them has been delivered.

VND7 billion for 154m2 Plot in Bac Giang

An auction of 78 land plots in Bac Ly Town, hosted by Dai Duong Group Auction Company (Bac Giang City) on April 5, saw nearly 500 participants and over 1,300 applications. All plots were successfully auctioned, fetching over VND244 billion, or VND118 billion above the starting price.

Notably, the highest bid reached over VND6.9 billion for a 154m2 plot, VND4.6 billion above its starting price of VND2.3 billion. The lowest bid was nearly VND2.6 billion, VND1 billion above its starting price.

On April 9, Nguyen Van Khanh, Vice Chair of Hiep Hoa District People’s Committee, told VietNamNet that rising land prices are driven by user demand and locality merger. 

“The auctioned land has complete infrastructure, convenient transport, green spaces, and wide sidewalks, and is near Bac Ninh Province,” he said, explaining the high prices.

Khanh noted that land price increases are normal and dismissed concerns about buyers defaulting.

From now to the end of June 2025, Hiep Hoa District plans three more auctions for over 200 plots in Bac Ly Town and Hung Thai, Son Thinh, and Doan Bai communes.

Hanoi to open sales for 69m2 apartments at VND1.46 billion

Over 700 social housing units in Kim Hoa Commune, Me Linh District in Hanoi, are priced at VND21.2 million/m2 (including VAT, excluding maintenance fees) and are set to open for sale in the second quarter.

According to Hanoi’s Construction Department, the Kim Hoa urban housing project, comprising four blocks, from CT01 to CT04, began construction in May 2023. With the above price, a 69m2 apartment costs about VND1.46 billion.

The rental-purchase price is roughly VND262,000/m2, equating to about VND18 million/month for the largest units.

The Kim Hoa social housing project, capitalized at VND1.3 trillion, spans over 3.4 hectares. It includes nine 9-story towers and one basement, offering 720 apartments (62m2 to 69m2), with 10 units per floor. Of these, 648 are for sale, and the rest are for rental-purchase.

This price at the project isn’t the highest in Hanoi; The highest level belongs to a social housing project in Ha Dinh urban area, Tan Trieu Commune, Thanh Tri District, costs about VND25 million/m2. Started late last year, it will accept applications in Q4 2025.

Before 2023, Hanoi’s social housing prices ranged from VND13-17 million/m2.

Hanoi condo market cools, halting price surge

After a heated growth phase, Hanoi’s condo price surge slowed down in the first quarter 2025, with the lowest quarterly price increase in nearly two years, according to CBRE.

CBRE data shows primary condo prices reached about VND75 million/m2 (excluding VAT and maintenance fees), slightly up from the prior quarter but the smallest quarterly rise since Q2 2023. Supply mainly came from large-scale suburban projects.

On the secondary market, price growth also slowed, with resale prices at about VND50 million/m2, up 3 percent from the previous quarter.

A VietNamNet survey in mid-March showed 47 percent of respondents would wait for prices to drop, 43 percent would buy now, and the rest had other opinions.

The situation has also been reported by OneHousing in its recent report which noted that after eight quarters of growth, Hanoi’s primary condo market entered an adjustment phase in Q1 2025. Primary supply was about 4,000 units, with 3,000 sold—down 60-70 percent from Q4 2024’s 11,000-12,000 units.

“This is the first quarter since Q1 2023 with a sharp drop in both supply and sales,” the report stated.

Hong Khanh