A series of big real estate giants implementing mega projects in the Central and Southern regions have attracted a large number of Northern brokers to “go South”. This reality is making the real estate market more vibrant, boosting the liquidity of many projects.
Northern Brokerage Expands Network of Potential Customers
Since the beginning of the year, many real estate giants such as Vingroup, Ecopark, Masterise have expanded their strategies, launching projects of hundreds and thousands of hectares in the Central and Southern regions such as Vinhomes Green Paradise, Vinhomes Green City, Ecoretreat… In fact, every time big investors “enter the market”, the market is bustling not only because of the scale of the project but also because of the appearance of a huge brokerage force following these investors. Previously, the above giants all strongly developed large-scale projects in the North, forming a “home” brokerage force specializing in selling products of these investors. Therefore, when investors move the project development location, it leads to a wave of migration of the “home” brokerage team.
A survey by Batdongsan.com.vn noted that while in the past the Central and Southern markets were mainly handled by local brokers, now a series of trading floors and individual brokers from Hanoi have “moved south” and landed in the above areas. The real estate brokerage market share in these markets is “shared” with sales staff from the North. Mr. Nguyen Tien Long, a sales staff at a trading floor based in Dong Da Ward, Hanoi, said that moving from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City to sell products is not only about finding new opportunities and increasing income, but also about expanding the potential customer base, instead of just limiting the customer base to the Northern provinces and cities as before.
Experts say this trend is an inevitable consequence. When new supply in Hanoi is limited, real estate prices have risen too high, many Northern brokerage floors have to look for new markets to maintain operations. The fact that large corporations choose the Central and Southern regions as “strategic destinations” has become an opportunity for Northern brokerage forces to “follow” along, both to find sources of goods and to expand their customer network.
Central and Southern Real Estate Markets Change Rhythm
The massive appearance of Northern brokers is creating significant changes for the real estate market in the Central and Southern regions. First of all, liquidity in many projects has been improved and increased significantly. The sales launches of Masteri Rivera Da Nang, Vinhomes Green City, EcoRetreat with the presence of Northern brokers have all recorded sold out or liquidity rates reaching over 70% each launch. Not only focusing on local investors and neighboring areas, the Northern brokers also introduce products to Northern investors, expanding the customer base of each project.
Mr. Nguyen Van Dinh, Chairman of the Vietnam Real Estate Brokers Association, commented that the professionalism and extensive sales experience of Northern brokers help investors speed up the sales process and expand their customer base beyond the local area. A real estate product in Da Nang or Ho Chi Minh City is now not only aimed at local people but is also strongly promoted to customers in Hanoi, Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, and even overseas Vietnamese. The market has become more “lively”, contributing to putting the names of projects in the Central and Southern regions on the investment map, creating a widespread ripple effect. Many individual investors in the North, who are familiar with the Hanoi market, are now starting to consider allocating cash flow to coastal localities, expecting better profit margins.
However, investor Nguyen Tu Linh, from Hanoi, said that the negative side also quickly appeared alongside the positive side. The massive influx of brokers from the North to the South invisibly created fierce competition, even leading to “price inflation” and excessive advertising. The land segment following large projects, also following the wave of brokers’ appearance, witnessed a “virtual fever”, land prices were pushed up two or three times in a short time, and then the market fell into a slump. “The expansion of large investors to the Central and Southern regions is a positive signal, helping to distribute real estate supply more evenly. However, the rapid shift of brokers and investors from the North can cause strong market fluctuations, potentially posing a risk of local bubbles if there is a lack of management mechanisms,” Mr. Linh emphasized.
