Real estate market focuses on wealthy
In the first quarter of 2007, US$406 million was poured into hotel and tourism projects, accounting for one-fifth of the total capital of newly licenced projects, according to the Foreign Investment Department under the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI).
At the same time, coastal villas are being hunted by investors. The real estate market for the rich is burning.
Hanoi, HCM City lack hotels
According to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (VNAT), Hanoi and HCM City, the two biggest cities in Vietnam, are short of high-grade hotel rooms. Meanwhile, the Hanoi Department of Tourism estimates that around 2 million foreign visitors will come to the city in 2010 and Hanoi will need around 26,000 hotel rooms of three-star standard and upwards, including around 7,000 rooms of four and five stars.
The volume of visitors coming to HCM City has risen by seven times, reported the Vina Capital investment fund. And this is the reason urging investors to pump money into hotel projects in big cities. Most recently, Bitexco has introduced a luxurious apartment and office building project, The Manor Officetel, in Hanoi, which has drawn many investors.
The special characteristic of this building, according to Bitexco Deputy Director Le Phuong My Linh, is apartments there can also be used as offices since the apartments have full services like a luxurious hotel. Staff of Bitexco will help apartment owners deal with mail, photocopying, typing, document checking; people who live in The Manor Officetel dont need to hire employees. That why around 90% of the apartments in the building have been sold though only the building foundation has been completed.
Korea Keangnam is preparing to build a 60-storey building comprising 500 five-star hotel rooms and offices worth US$500 million in Hanoi. The project will be completed in 2010.
In HCM City, Vina Capital has spent more than $16.5 million to buy more than 52% of the Omni Saigon Hotel with 249 rooms.
Coastal villas take the throne
Besides high-class hotels, villas in famous coastal tourist sites are being hunted by investors. Villas or land plots for building villas on Tuan Chau Island in Quang Ninh province, Do Son in Hai Phong city, Nha Trang city in Khanh Hoa province have become ˜hot cakes. According to investors, such villas can be used as resorts for their families and be leased while their value increases with time.
That why 324 land plots in the 71ha Phu Quy tourist zone in Nha Trang city have been sold at the price of VND10-16 million ($625-1,000) per sq.m. The Aquaba Resort project in Mui Ne, the southern province of Binh Thuan, has sold 60% of apartments and villas. Many of the four hundred villas of the Flamingo resort near Dai Lai Lake have also been booked.
Indochina Land Holdings has announced it will sell some plots of land in its Nam Hai Resort in Hoi An Town for investors to build their own villas. VinaCapital also plans to auction some plots of land on Son Tra peninsula in the central city of Da Nang.
2007 is predicted to be the year of tourism with an increasing number of foreign visitors coming to Vietnam. The VNAT is asking for the Prime Minister permission to host the Miss Asian 2008. These are reasons that can make investment in hotels, luxurious apartments and villas boom.
Source Vietnamnet