Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Market: A 2024 Overview
By Vu Pham, Minh Hue
Mon, February 24, 2025 | 9:00 am GMT+7
The real estate landscape in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) has experienced remarkable fluctuations over the past year. As of 2024, the average price of apartments surged to VND91 million ($3,565) per square meter, reflecting a striking 33% year-on-year increase. This price hike stems from the dual forces of elevated costs in new supplies and the appreciation of older projects.
Gamuda Land’s Eaton Park project in Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City has a price of over VND100 million ($3,918) per sqm. Photo courtesy of Gamuda Land.
Market Dynamics: Supply and Demand
A recent report from property consultancy Savills reveals a cautiously optimistic outlook for the HCMC real estate market, which ended 2024 with some promising signals. The primary supply of apartments saw a year-on-year uptick of 10%, resulting in nearly 11,900 new units available to the market.
However, the landscape for more affordable housing is troubling. Grade-C apartments experienced a dramatic 45% decline compared to 2020, totaling around 1,300 units in 2024. Additionally, the availability of apartments priced below VND50 million ($1,959) per square meter contracted by 20%, representing merely 15% of the total primary supply.
Sales Trends and High-End Market Surge
Despite the concerning drop in affordable options, sales surged by 29% year-on-year, amounting to approximately 8,000 transactions. Notably, grade-B apartments led the charge, comprising 67% of total sales, while grade-C and grade-A accounted for 28% and 5%, respectively.
The high-end segment also surged, with transactions of luxury apartments priced over VND80 million ($3,135) skyrocketing by an astounding 2,118% year-on-year, accounting for 76% of total transactions.
Challenges Ahead
Le Hoang Chau, chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association (HoREA), highlighted that while the market seems to be transitioning away from a difficult phase in 2024, challenges persist. The real estate business revenue for January 2025 reached VND22,932 billion ($898.4 million), indicating a decline of 3.3% compared to the previous month.
He noted that economic recovery has been slower than anticipated, implying that 2025 will likely continue to pose challenges for the real estate market. Chau painted a concerning picture of an ongoing shortage of affordable housing projects, as not a single unit priced under VND30 million ($1,175) has emerged in new residential developments since 2021.
The High-End Market’s Dominance
Worryingly, the high-end segment has dominated the landscape; from 2020 to 2023, about 70% of new housing units were categorized as high-end. In 2024, all new projects launched fell into this bracket, raising alarms about market sustainability.
Chau emphasized the imbalance in the market, describing it as an “inverted pyramid” where there is an overwhelming demand for affordable options, yet negligible supply. With high-end apartments now hitting VND90 million ($3,526) per square meter, many middle-income and low-income urban residents find these prices out of reach.
Future Projections: More Supply on the Horizon?
Looking ahead, the real estate consultancy Savills anticipates that in 2025, over 10,000 new apartments will be launched, with grade-B apartments making up 54% of this total. By 2027, the projected supply could reach approximately 46,000 units stemming from 69 projects, predominantly in Thu Duc City, Binh Tan District, and District 7.
Giang Huynh, the head of research & S22M at Savills HCMC, noted that market dynamics are currently affected by a growing land shortage and rising project development costs. Developers are therefore inclined towards offering products that ensure profitability, generally skewing towards mid- to high-end segments.
Shifting Demands to Neighboring Areas
As a direct consequence of the scarcity of affordable apartments, buyers with limited budgets are increasingly looking to adjoining provinces such as Binh Duong, Dong Nai, and Long An. Here, apartment prices range between VND30-40 million ($1,567) per square meter, which has led to a remarkable growth in transactions—particularly in Binh Duong, where transactions surged by more than 200% year-on-year.
In summary, while the HCMC real estate market in 2024 showcased sustained developments, the challenges surrounding affordable housing and the dominant high-end sector raise critical questions about long-term sustainability and balance in this vibrant marketplace.