BY DUNCAN FORGAN
After years languishing in intensive care, promising signs indicate that the property sector in Ho Chi Minh City is in recovery. But how real is the revival?
Resilience in the face of adversity is a well- worn theme in Vietnam. Ruled by eternal rivals China for more than 1,000 years and besieged by western powers throughout the 20th Century, the Vietnamese have proven masters at bouncing back from setbacks and calamities.
Therefore it is no great surprise that another major retrenchment is currently breathing new life into Ho Chi Minh City’s property market.
After a dramatic decline and a prolonged slump and bottoming out period, described by a prominent Vietnam-based real estate agent as a “cold, dark tunnel”, the market in the country’s economic powerhouse is now tentatively emerging back into the light.
“I don’t want to tempt fate by stating that we are through the worst and on an upward curve again, as people here have been saying that in hope more than anything else for the last couple of years,” says Rudolf Hever, executive director at Alternaty (Vietnam), a boutique real estate firm based in Ho Chi Minh City.
“But the signs are definitely promising. Interest rates have come right down to a way more acceptable level, the stock market is performing well and the Vietnamese dong is relatively stable. All of these factors breed confidence. What’s more, developers are learning from the mistakes of the past and supplying quality units in line with buyer demand.”
original source: http://www.property-report.com/back-from-the-dead-37015#sthash.7qkZuvGt.dpuf