The market witnessed 13,042 successful transactions of various types of property, ranging from apartments, houses, land to condotels and resorts/villas in the first three months of the year, the Ministry of Construction said in its latest quarterly report on the domestic housing and real estate market released on May 7.

Of the amount, Hanoi sold a total of 1,167 apartments, houses and land lots while Ho Chi Minh City made 2,816 successful transactions, down 62 percent and 45 percent, respectively.

There were 56 projects with 20,536 units licensed from January-March while 997 others with 233,313 units were under construction. The number of apartments completed was 18,061, the report said.

Five projects with 4,512 tourist apartments and 476 tourist villas were licensed while 48 others with 18,549 tourist apartments and 3,359 tourist villas were under construction.

The report said the progress of many projects had been seriously hampered by precautious measures and the nationwide social distrancing order to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prices of condo units in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City during the first quarter rose by 1.02 percent and 3.5 percent, respectively, year-on-year while those for tourism properties remained unchanged. Prices of industrial properties continued an upward trend, surging 6.2 percent during the period.

Meanwhile, rental rates of retail spaces fell by 10 – 30 percent compared to the pre-pandemic period./.VNA