Stocks, gold, real estate or dollars – what’s best for Vietnam’s investors?

Stocks, gold, real estate or dollars – what’s best for Vietnam’s investors?

All investments are risky

The gyrations of the world gold market recently have helped many Vietnamese earn a fortune, but at least as many others have been cleaned out. Amateur investors are conspicuous in the latter group, having plunged in without good market information and all too often placing their bets with the help of dreams and horoscopes.

Vietnam Real Estate Growth Limited By Regulatory Environment

The key factors limiting Vietnam's real estate market are: a lack of transparency, access to funding and the legal framework. Heeding the lessons learned by Vietnam's counterparts in the Asian property sector should advance the position of this emerging market. See the following article from Property Wire for more on this.

Improved legal and financial frameworks are needed if Vietnam’s emerging property market is to grow into a sustained real estate environment, it is claimed.

The country’s real estate sector will continue to grow and attract investors in 2010 but potential problems such as rapid urbanization, environmental pollution and supplying sufficient low cost housing needs to be addressed, a two day conference heard.

The southern economic hub’s Saigon South area continues to be a promising place for property developers to prosper

Saigon South, which covers District 7 and Nha Be and Binh Chanh districts, has recently seen Khang Thong Joint Stock Company break ground for construction of a $30 million commercial and residential complex at Huynh Tan Phat street.

The complex, scheduled to open in three years, will be located on 3,395 square metres. The 19-storey building, designed by Korean firm Gansam Partners, will have a two-storey basement, five retail floors, entertainment and offices for lease, 204 apartments and 12 penthouses.

Only the State is a loser in Vietnam’s real estate boom

TDQ had a house in Tan Quy ward (HCM City District 7) that he purchased for 1.5 billion dong, about $75,000. Recently, he bought another house for five billion dong in the same ward. With real estate prices high, Q resolved to sell the first house, but of course he did not want to pay income tax on his gain.

Only people who own two houses or more are liable to pay the tax. Q solved his problem by arranging the paperwork necessary to convey the first house to his son. Once it was in his son’s name, Q sold the house for 2.5 billion dong without having to share one dong with the tax office.

CapitaLand pours US$223 million into real estate in Vietnam

The Singapore-headquartered CapitaLand has deployed 299 million Singaporean dollars (US$223 million) to further its growth in the real estate sector in Vietnam.

In a press release last week, the company said that Vietnam was the group’s potential fourth pillar of growth in addition to its core markets of China, Singapore and Australia.

“Vietnam is a key Asian market for CapitaLand Group. The country’s strong economic growth and rapid urbanisation have creasted many opportunities for international real estate companies like CapitaLand,” says the press release.