Vietnam Plans To Allow Expatriates To Buy And Sell Houses

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Vietnam plans to allow expatriates to buy and sell houses

HANOI: Vietnam plans to allow expatriates to buy and sell houses to attract foreign investment to the sector, real estate dealers said Monday.

The Ministry of Construction plan applies to foreigners who will stay in Vietnam for a year. They will be allowed to buy and own one house per person over 50 years.

Many of the expatriates are executives in foreign-invested companies.

"The new rule," said Nguyen Xuan Dao, chief executive at the Hanoi-based developer Vietnam Property, "will not only attract more investment in quality property projects but also boost demand from foreigners and create more opportunities for locals to trade in real estate."

The proposal allows foreign owners to sell without restrictions and use the property as collateral for bank loans in Vietnam but forbids them from renting the home.

In Vietnam, the state owns the land but gives infinite freehold to its citizens.

Property markets are on the rise across Asia, fueled by cash-rich investors looking for higher returns, the booming economies of China and India and the emergence of Japan from over a decade of economic stagnation.

Since India eased rules on investment in the construction sector, foreign property funds have flocked in, helping to double property prices in major cities since 2005.

Home prices in Singapore have seen their biggest gains in over seven years, led by strong buying of luxury properties by foreigners.

About a quarter of the 81,000 expatriates currently living in Vietnam would be eligible to buy houses, said the director of the Housing Management Administration, Nguyen Manh Ha.

"House ownership will help expatriates cut living cost significantly," Ha was quoted as saying by state media Monday.

Last year, the consulting firm Mercer ranked Hanoi the world's 32nd most expensive city for expatriates, mainly for high rents that could go up to $3,000 per month for a three-bedroom serviced apartment.

Real estate prices, especially condominiums in big cities like Ho Chi Minh City, have gone up about 50 percent in the past year due to limited supply, with most new projects sold before they are built.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/07/16/business/hanoi.php ( International Herald Tribune )

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[roietjimmy]

Vietnam, seeing the value to its economy, continues to liberalize policies regarding foreign home/land and business ownership. Malaysia and Singapore have long ago concluded the same. With its paranoia related to "foreigners owning the country" is it any wonder Thailand is quickly losing its competitiveness in the region.

[jumnien]

The best thing for us farang living here in Thailand is for things to remain just as they are and force all the people that just want a cheap place to live no matter what the culture to move to Vietnam and Malaysia and the like. They really don't bring anything to the table here and we are far better off without them.

[midas]

The best thing for us farang living here in Thailand is for things to remain just as they are and force all the people that just want a cheap place to live no matter what the culture to move to Vietnam and Malaysia and the like. They really don't bring anything to the table here and we are far better off without them.

That is a bit ' below the belt ' mdeland

If the real estate ownership laws in LOS were just a bit more

sensible I am sure it would attract more people to buy

their home - even those that would be " socially acceptable "

to you !

[jumnien]

It's not a question of social acceptability. Well, I guess it is somewhat. But really, I think for you and I and others that are very fond of Thailand, we just don't want a Costa del Sol type invasion of farang. A smattering of us is tolerable. But we don't want Thailand to become the place for Westerners looking for cheap accomodation only. I think it's great if they can do that in Vietnam.

[bendix]

The article tells us nothing. In fact, if read literally, it brings Vietnam only in line with Thailand - we are, after all, freely allowed to own houses now.

Nowhere in the article does it say foreigners are allowed to own land. In fact, it even makes a point that currently, only the state owns land while giving Vietnam citizens the right to infinite freehold.

Where does it say foreigners will be allowed to buy and sell land?

[meemiathai]

The best thing for us farang living here in Thailand is for things to remain just as they are and force all the people that just want a cheap place to live no matter what the culture to move to Vietnam and Malaysia and the like. They really don't bring anything to the table here and we are far better off without them.

What a bloody EXCELENT post!!!!!!!!

[meemiathai]

Why are some clubs more expensive and some cheaper?

It is because no one wants to go into those cheaper ones thence they lower their prices!

[meemiathai]

Wait a moment! There I thought that Thailand was the only Xenophobic country around?