HK chief moves to curb Chinese property investors

HONG KONG - Hong Kong's leader outlined new steps Wednesday to cool the world's hottest real estate market, including a halt to automatic residency for wealthy Chinese buyers, depressing property shares.

Chief Executive Donald Tsang said he was responding to "public concern" about a residential housing shortage and sky-rocketing prices, at a rowdy legislative assembly session in which one legislator was escorted from the chamber.

Residential property prices have risen 20 percent in the last year, he noted.

"Housing is currently the greatest concern of our people," said Tsang. "Over the past few years, private housing supply has been relatively low. We should address the fundamentals by increasing land supply in response to market demand."

Among measures he unveiled was a temporary amendment to the territory's Capital Investment Scheme, which is intended to encourage investment in the territory.

The amendment will prevent investors from gaining residency in Hong Kong through property purchases from October 14, Tsang said.

Investors from the mainland have long been lured by the prospect of residency in Hong Kong, a financial centre and gateway to China that is run under a different legal system and boasts higher living standards.

The announcement sent share prices in property developers plunging: SHK Properties was down 3.6 percent, New World Development lost 3.5 percent and Sino Land was down 2.6 percent.

To help ease the housing shortage, Tsang also announced plans to build residential property on the city's old airport, Kai Tak, which was closed down in favor of a new more spacious sight away from residential areas in 1998.

On Tuesday angry protesters interrupted an auction of an upmarket residential site in the Kowloon area that fetched 1.63 billion Hong Kong dollars (US$210 million).

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Developers offer incentives to woo homebuyers

HCMC - Two property developers in Binh Duong and Dong Nai provinces have announced strong incentives, offering installments plans and deep discounts for buyers of villas and row houses in their property projects currently underway.

SetiaBecamex JSC, developer of EcoLakes My Phuoc in Binh Duong Province, has launched the so-called EcoLakes 30/70 Homes Plan, requiring homebuyers to pay in advance a sum equal to 30% of the property in EcoLakes.

Khoo Teck Chong, general director of SetiaBecamex, explained that the program was designed to offer a simple home ownership or property investment plan where homebuyers pay 30% of the price in installments and get a loan for the balance. Homebuyers will not be charged interest during construction until their properties are completed and handed over.

The company said the current high interest rate is a burden for many homebuyers, making many people feel hesitate whether to take out a loan for buying a property. The program will help buyers save from VND70 million to VND200 million once they buy properties in the project

The Malaysian developer plans to launch 227 villas and row houses with prices starting from VND3.3 billion and VND1.2 billion respectively in the coming time.

In another project, Tin Nghia Corporation in Dong Nai Province has slashed prices by between 20% and 50% for a residential project in Bien Hoa City’s Tan Bien Ward in the southern province.

Some 100 villas and row houses from 200 to 250 square meters are offered at VND797 million per unit. Some banks are going along, offering financial support for homerbuyers.

Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong, director of Tinnghia Land, says the program is designed to stir up the market demand as well as to offer the people a chance to buy a house. Construction of these properties has finished and homebuyers can move in.

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Hanoi commercial property booms

The Hanoi real estate market saw optimistic development in the third quarter and the growth trend is expected to continue to the end of this year, Savills Vietnam real estate agent reported Tuesday.

"Good economic recovery in the third quarter helped the office and retail sectors in the property market," said Pham Thanh Son, Savills Vietnam economics expert.

Hanoi 's office occupancy rate average increased to 91 percent, a 4 percent jump, in the second quarter, according to Savills associate director and head of research and consultancy Tran Nhu Trung.

The average occupancy rate in the city's shopping centres remained high at 94 percent and many new shopping centres opened in this quarter.

The serviced apartment sector average dipped slightly to 91 percent from 92 percent in the third quarter but average rental rates increased by 0.4 percent to US$26 per sq.m per month, Trung said.

Son reported challenges to credit acquisition for the capital property market, which include depreciating dong, high interest rates for loans and Decree 71, which contributed to a decline in mobilised capital.

Son also asserted that the increased price of gold and the higher exchange rate attracted more investors to the financial market so available capital for property projects has declined.

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Hanoi commercial property booms

The Hanoi real estate market saw optimistic development in the third
quarter and the growth trend is expected to continue to the end of this
year, Savills Vietnam real estate agent reported on Oct. 5.

"Good economic recovery in the third quarter helped the office and
retail sectors in the property market," said Pham Thanh Son, Savills
Vietnam economics expert.

Hanoi 's office occupancy
rate average increased to 91 percent, a 4 percent jump, in the second
quarter, according to Savills associate director and head of research
and consultancy Tran Nhu Trung.

The average occupancy rate
in the city's shopping centres remained high at 94 percent and many new
shopping centres opened in this quarter.

The serviced
apartment sector average dipped slightly to 91 percent from 92 percent
in the third quarter but average rental rates increased by 0.4 percent
to 26 USD per sq.m per month, Trung said.

Son reported
challenges to credit acquisition for the capital property market, which
include depreciating dong, high interest rates for loans and Decree 71,
which contributed to a decline in mobilised capital.

Son
also asserted that the increased price of gold and the higher exchange
rate attracted more investors to the financial market so available
capital for property projects has declined./.

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Ha Noi commercial property booms

HA NOI — The Ha Noi real estate market saw optimistic development in the third quarter and the growth trend is expected to continue to the end of this year, Savills Viet Nam real estate agent reported yesterday.

"Good economic recovery in the third quarter helped the office and retail sectors in the property market," said Pham Thanh Son, Savills Viet Nam economics expert.

Ha Noi's office occupancy rate average increased to 91 per cent, a 4 per cent jump, in the second quarter, according to Savills associate director and head of research and consultancy Tran Nhu Trung.

The average occupancy rate in the city's shopping centres remained high at 94 per cent and many new shopping centres opened in this quarter.

The serviced apartment sector average dipped slightly to 91 per cent from 92 per cent in the third quarter but average rental rates increased by 0.4 per cent to US$26 per sq.m per month, Trung said.

Son reported challenges to credit acquisition for the capital property market, which include depreciating dong, high interest rates for loans and Decree 71, which contributed to a decline in mobilised capital.

Son also asserted that the increased price of gold and the higher exchange rate attracted more investors to the financial market so available capital for property projects has declined. — VNS

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Overseas Vietnamese given new property rights

Overseas Vietnamese living abroad who have maintained their Vietnamese citizenship are permitted to own unlimited property, according to the latest decree on implementation of the Land and Housing Law.

Deputy Minister of construction Nguyen Tran Nam said that this is a change from the previous decree, which has been in force since 2001, which stipulated that only selected groups of people of the Vietnamese origin could own unlimited property.

The new decree stipulates that overseas Vietnamese eligible to buy houses in Vietnam may also enjoy other privileges, such as the transfer of land-use rights when selling; using credit organisations to mortgage their land-use rights; or leasing out the property.

This change promotes further equality between overseas Vietnamese and Vietnamese citizens when it came to property ownership in Vietnam, said Truong Thi Hoa, a lawyer from the HCMC Bar Association.

Nam said this decree also provides specific guidance about the papers overseas Vietnamese are required to present to prove their eligibility to buy real estate.

"All the requirements are more concrete and transparent than before, which will hopefully pave the way for better implementation of the law at local levels," he said.

One of the major hurdles for overseas Vietnamese that hinders them from purchasing property in Vietnam is the procedure to prove their origin, Luong Bach Van, chairwoman of the Overseas Vietnamese Committee in HCM City, said.

"If they lose relevant papers, which is often the case for people who have lived abroad for a long time, the whole process may come to a standstill. For those who have already prepared the necessary certificates, it still takes at least three months to verify them," she said.

Chairman of the Overseas Vietnamese Businessmen Club Nguyen Ngoc My said that many overseas Vietnamese commonly get around the red-tape procedures by putting their real estate transactions under the name of a Vietnamese citizen.

Nguyen Thi Thu Van, who owns an auto dealership in San Francisco and divides her time between Vietnam and the US , said she has bought several houses in Vietnam but asked her relatives to register for ownership.

"This is much quicker, but I am luckier than other overseas Vietnamese who may not have trustees in Vietnam . The new decree is a good signal for all of us, but I am a little bit concerned about its implementation in practice," she said.

My, a Vietnamese Australian, said he bought a house at the beginning of this year but is still waiting for his property ownership certificate.

"I hope the changes in relevant legal documents will help procedures go more smoothly, which will in turn make it easier for overseas Vietnamese to take part in Vietnam's property market," he said.

Deputy Minister Nam said the new regulations will provide incentives for overseas Vietnamese to return to the country to buy houses, which would help boost the real estate market in Vietnam .

He also refuted the concern that overseas Vietnamese could utilise the loosened regulations to find their way into real estate speculation, potentially leading to a housing market bubble.

"In fact, property prices in Vietnam are comparatively high and the housing market is not that attractive," he said.

Nguyen Quang Tuyen, head of Hanoi Law University 's Land Law Department, said the new regulations may create more demand in the housing market but not enough to create a boom because the relevant administrative procedures are still not working very well.

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