Old villas remain popular despite housing market slump
25-08-2012
 A villa on Ly Thuong Kiet Street |
Hanoi currently has about 1,600 old villas. 562 of them belong to individuals, 1024 are owned by the state and 42 villas in Ba Dinh are used as government property and cannot be bought by individuals.
The French colonial period villas are mostly located in Hoan Kiem, Hai Ba Trung and Ba Dinh districts. A small number of the villas built after 1945 are located in Doi Can, Vinh Ho and Trung Tu streets.
Because of the limited numbers, these villas are offered at high prices.
Small villas are priced at around VND300-500 million (USD14-24,000) per square metre while the villas locate on streets in the city centre such as Ly Thuong Kiet and Tran Hung Dao are being sold at VND500-800 million per square metre.
The villas on Tran Hung Dao Street have the highest prices of VND750-800 million per square metre, while villas in Cua Bac are within the lower priced group of VND450-480 million per square metre. The record price belongs to a villa on Ly Thuong Kiet Street which cost VND1 billion per square metre.
Another reason for such high prices are their prime locations.
Over a year ago, investors willing to spend millions of USD to purchase villas had their hopes dashed after the government banned them from destroying or restructuring the townhouses.
"People flocked to the capital to buy the villas because of their locations. However, it's quite hard to sell the villas now as they cost VND500-800 million per square metre. Not many people can afford them." Nguyen Huu Canh, director of a real estate trading floor said.
A customer also said that although the real estate market was experiencing a slump now, it still remained difficult to buy a villa.
Quang Tan, a company chairman with a great passion for old villas, spent VND120 billion buying a villa on Hang Bun Street. He also paid VND10 billion for its restoration. "Although the house’s value dropped by 20% it doesn't matter, I bought it for the architectural and historical value." he said.
