Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam has become anattractive destination for foreign investors largely due to the country'spolicies encouraging foreign direct investment (FDI), its political stabilityand strong economic growth, according to the latest report of JLL real estate servicesfirm.
Vietnam remains one of the top destinations forforeign investment in Southeast Asia, said the report.
For Vietnam's real estate market, 2018 beganwith the acquisition of Sun Wah office tower by Nomura Real Estate Development.Nomura acquired a 24 percent stake in the Grade A office building located insouthern Ho Chi Minh City.
As for the residential sector, in March 2018,CapitaLand announced the acquisition of a 0.9 ha development site in Tay Ho district, Hanoi, for approximately 685 billion VND (29.78 million USD).
Later, in the third quarter of 2018, CapitaLandbought a 6 ha development site in Binh Trung Dong ward, District 2, Ho Chi MinhCity for 1.38 trillion VND (about 60 million USD). The development is expectedto yield more than 100 landed residential units by 2021.
Another property giant Frasers Propertypublicly announced that they entered into a conditional share purchaseagreement with Tran Thai Lands Company Limited to acquire 75 percent of theissued share capital of each Phu An Khang Real Estate JSC (PAK) and Phu An DienReal Estate JSC (PAD).
PAK and PAD are expected to undertake thedevelopment of residential-cum-commercial projects in District 2 and Thu Duc district of HCM City, respectively.
In December 2018, Berjaya Vietnam InternationalUniversity Town announced that it divested its entire stake of 75 percent inT.P.C Nghi Tam Village Ltd. ("TPC Village") to Hanoi Hotel TourismDevelopment Limited Liability Company for 1.245 trillionVND (54.13 million USD).
Real estate transactions in 2018 werediversified with a good variety of asset and property types.
JLL expected continued growth through most assettypes, including industrial and other growing sectors like education.
The industrial market will be the hottest sectorin 2019, backed by the positive impact of the Comprehensive andProgressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the EU-VietnamFree Trade Agreement (EVFTA), it forecast.
JLL said it expects foreign investors tocontinue showing keen interest in the Vietnamese real estate market.
2019 will be a reforming year for the marketwith more reforms of regulations taking place, though the prolonged buildingapproval process may impact new developments this year, it added.
Therefore, sourcing "clean" and"clear" projects that are ready for development would be a challengefor investors, it said.
However, the firm believes the reform of regulations will help improvetransparency, making the Vietnamese real estate market even more attractive toforeign investors, it added.-VNA