Hanoi’s billionaires spend money on seaside villas
07-05-2012
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While all the other real estate market segments have been frozen due to the economic difficulties and the tightened monetary and credit policies, the resort real estate segment still has been bustling, as billionaires still throw their money into seaside villas, valued at multi-million dollars each.
Nguyen Phuong Thao, sale director of a big resort project in the sea city of Da Nang in the central region, said 62 percent of the owners of the luxurious villas and apartments are from Hanoi, 18 percent from HCM City, while only 12 percent are foreigners. The figures have surprised many people, who previously thought that only foreigners can afford the luxurious products.
Thao also said that the big villas with the view to the sea and swimming pools valued at millions of dollars have been sold better than the products of the same project, but on less advantageous positions.
The apartments have the prices at 4 billion dong at minimum, while a penthouse is up to 15 billion dong. Meanwhile, villas are valued at 28-40 billion dong for the most advantageous positions of the resort. However, most of the villas have been sold.
Similarly, most of the expensive villas of a gold project in Quang Nam province which have the prices of 10 billion dong at least, have found the buyers. After 50 percent of villas sold, only two villas with 3 bedrooms have been left. And most of the owners of the villas are Vietnamese “big guys.”
An expert of a global real estate distribution firm said Hoi An and Da Nang are the key markets in Asia. Most of the clients interested in resort real estate valued at millions of dollars are Vietnamese. The owners of the fortunes are directors of big companies, Viet Kieu (overseas Vietnamese) and successful young entrepreneurs.
A report by Savills Vietnam showed that 80 percent of buyers are from Hanoi, while only 13 percent from HCM City, and the other 7 percent are Viet Kieu and from other provinces and cities.
While Saigonese like the villas worth 300,000-800,000 dollars at the resorts in Vung Tau City and Binh Thuan province, Hanoians prove to be choosier and they only accept the villas worth millions of dollars.
The more expensive villas, the more they are attractive to buyers
Ngo Thi Huong Giang, a senior executive of CBRE Vietnam, a real estate service provider, has noted that the multi-million dollar villas can be sold very well, and that the most expensive blocks are always the best sellers, which is the most outstanding feature of the Da Nang real estate market.
The representative of a well-known real estate project in Da Nang also said, he himself once feared that multi-million dollars would be unsalable. However, he later realized that the luxurious products enjoyed large custom. 50 percent of the villas at his project have found their owners.
To Nhu Tung, Director of a resort said that buyers do not care much about the prices or price discounts. They are most interested in the positions of the villas they want to buy. The ones on advantageous position with sea view, looking into golf courses, which have special features would be the top choices of the “big guys.” Besides, the buyers also pay attention to the real estate development brands and the quality of services.
Tung has noted that the owners of the villas tend to be younger. He once got so surprised when meeting a client born in 1990, who asked to buy a villa worth millions of dollars and paid 20 percent of the value of the villas immediately.
