What’s the typical buyer profile for Vietnam homes?

Investors gravitate toward high-end residences in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City yet lower-cost homes are predicted to corner supply by 2020

Investors account for a high percentage of grade-A (high-end) residential property purchases in Vietnam, while low-end home purchasers comprise mostly occupiers, according to a new report by Savills Vietnam.

In Ho Chi Minh City, over 65 percent of high-end home buyers consisted of investors while the figure stood at 70 percent in Hanoi, the consultancy reported in the latest Vietnam Residential Spotlight which tracked data from 2013 through 2017.

Occupiers comprised 85 to 90 percent of transactions in grade-C or low-end homes, while investors evinced almost no interest.

As for grade-B or middle-end units in Hanoi, sales were divided into investors, accounting for 40 percent of sales; occupiers (55 percent), and speculators (5 percent).

In Ho Chi Minh City, investors made up 45 percent of middle-end sales, while occupiers and speculators represented 50 percent and 5 percent, respectively.

Vietnam’s largest city is poised to welcome a residential supply dominated by low-end units by 2020. The pricing segment will take up 61 percent of supply, compared with a supply of 8 percent for the high-end range.

Hanoi will have a higher ratio of high-end homes, with supply in this segment set to rise to 15 percent by 2020. The middle-end segment will dominate the market in the capital, however, where units in this range will take over half of the supply.