The number of foreigners, who need help in owning property in Vietnam is increase very fast. They accelerate and aim at projects with beautiful location and the highest level of living.
Prefer high quality projects
Mr.Hwang, a Korean who as lived in Vietnam for more than 10 years, since he went to Vietnam to study at a university, now runs a large business in Ho Chi Minh City. He intends to live in Vietnam for a long time, so it is nice to have the law allow foreigners to buy houses. However, he still worries about the problem of administrative procedures and the question: Can foreigners own property in Vietnam?
Similarly, Mr.Alex Nguyen, an overseas American Vietnamese, said that he initially heard that the new Housing Law allows foreigners buy property in Vietnam, but he only want to learn about but not intend to buy, the reason is that he has no one in Vietnam to look after the property and solve legal issues as well as paperwork until he get the receipt of the apartment.
Not only foreigners got problems, many investors also worried and being urgent to know whether the project is approved to sell to foreigners or not. This also makes investors fall into awkward situations when selling, not to mention many investors lose the opportunity to have more foreigner customers.
Representatives of Vingroup said that, by the end of November 2015, there were 360 apartments in a project located in the Saigon New Port, which was bought by foreigners, accounting for about 7% of the total units sold by the project. The majority of buyers here are Koreans and Vietnamese Americans.
Still worried about the ownership
The Housing law in 2014 has relaxed the conditions for foreigners owning property in Vietnam, however, the number of foreigners buying houses in Vietnam is still very low due to problems in determining the list of projects allowed to sell to this object.
According to information from businesses, the number of foreigners buy property in Vietnam has increased so much compared to the day before, because the new Housing Law has created ventilation for this object. But the number of overseas Vietnamese and foreigners, who are owning property in Vietnam is not as high as expected.
Meanwhile, authorities say that nearly 4.5 million Vietnamese work and live in 109 countries, with about 500,000 people are in need of buying houses in Vietnam. It is worth noting that the total income of overseas Vietnamese up to about $100 billion. These are potentially huge numbers.
From a different perspective, up to this point, many Vietnamese companies still don’t have strategic investment projects, which are suitable with foreigners. The way of consulting, marketing, support are being implemented the same way as with domestic customers, so it is not possible to reach the foreigners’ needs.
Depends on the implementation
The 2014 Housing Law has broadened the scope of the object, the conditions for acquiring and owning houses in Vietnam. Specifically, it allows overseas Vietnamese owning property as citizens in the country. However, the law also requires foreign organizations and individuals to purchase no more than 30% of the total number of apartments in a commercial apartment building. In the case of individual dwelling houses (villas, adjacent houses), an administrative unit equivalent to a ward level shall be entitled to buy and own not more than 250 apartments.
The regulation is quite open, but the biggest issue depends on the implementation of the above rules. Specifically, if these regulations are implemented transparently, dedicated staff, harassment issues, etc, then surely the purchase of homes of overseas Vietnamese and foreigners will not encounter difficulties, obstacles in the future anymore.
In the coming time, when the obstacles in the legal regulations, detailed guidelines, ensure the implementation in a consistent and effective way, the Housing Law 2014 will create new steps for the market.
Thang Tran – Mogi.vn
>>> Why it’s time for foreigners to buy house in Ho Chi Minh city
