Large Room for Real Estate Growth, Market Begins to Filter

Delegates discussing at the seminar

Large Room for Growth

At the seminar ‘Hue - From Heritage Capital to a New Driver of Investment Flows’, held by the Vietnam Association of Realtors on September 12, experts said that Hue’s status as a centrally governed municipality is giving the city greater room to reorganize its urban space and develop housing, along with establishing new production and service sectors. However, they noted that the expanding development space must take the characteristics of a heritage city into account.

Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Dinh Thien, a member of the Prime Minister’s Advisory Council on Policy and former Director of the Vietnam Institute of Economics, stated that Hue’s value goes beyond individual heritage sites but in the way they form an interconnected whole shaped by the city’s history, culture and ecology. Therefore, preservation is not simply about protecting structures, but also about maintaining the landscape, spaces, and the relationship between heritage sites and the community. New projects need to be considered as part of the city as a whole, rather than separately from the surrounding environment.

The characteristics of a heritage city also present specific challenges for Hue’s real estate market. The potential lies not only in expanding the built-up area, but also in creating living, tourism, and service spaces that fit the city’s culture, landscape, and actual demands. Therefore, the long-term value of a project should be measured by its ability to meet housing, business, and service needs, rather than mainly by expectations of rising land prices.

Dr. Nguyen Minh Phong, a member of the Economic Advisory Council of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, noted that based on planning and key connectivity routes, several areas are drawing attention, including An Van Duong, the coastal urban strip in Thuan An, and Chan May - Lang Co Economic Zone.

According to Mr. Nguyen Minh Phong, each area has its own development drivers. An Van Duong is associated with demand for housing and commercial space, as well as population shifts; meanwhile, Thuan An has advantages in tourism, accommodation, and coastal urban development; while Chan May - Lang Co is linked to the seaport, industry and logistics, along with housing demand from workers and professionals.

These three areas show that the potential of Hue’s real estate market extends beyond urban housing. New demand could emerge alongside the development of tourism, industry, logistics, and other emerging economic sectors.

The organizing committee presenting certificates recognizing two real estate projects as meeting Vietnamese standards under the VRES criteria

The market becomes more differentiated

According to research by Dr. Nguyen Minh Phong, a member of the Economic Advisory Council of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, in 2025, Hue’s real estate market had more than 1,200 properties on the market, almost quadrupling from 2024. In the first half of 2026, the supply remained high, with more than 850 properties recorded. However, transaction growth has lagged behind the increase in supply. The market recorded 505 transactions in 2025, nearly triple the number of 2024. Yet the absorption rate dropped from 47% to around 40%, before falling further to about 32% in the first half of 2026.

These figures show that while supply has increased, purchasing demand has not kept pace. Buyers are becoming more cautious and increasingly selective in their choices. Legal status, location, infrastructure, selling prices, and development potential are creating clear differences in liquidity among projects.

Dr. Nguyen Van Dinh, Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Real Estate Association and Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Realtors, said that Hue’s status as a centrally governed municipality creates conditions for the city to reorganize its urban space, make better use of its advantages, and create new momentum for the real estate market.

However, greater room for growth does not mean that all projects will have the same growth prospects. The long-term value of a project depends on its alignment with planning, infrastructure progress, and, more importantly, its ability to generate real demand for use.

Accordingly, projects that create living, commercial, and service spaces, or meet the needs of production and tourism, have a more sustainable foundation than those that rely mainly on expectations of price increases.

The Dao Tan Diamond project is currently under construction

At the seminar, the price gap between Hue and some major cities was seen as a factor creating room for market growth. However, lower price levels do not necessarily mean greater potential for price increases. Real estate values also depend on the pace of economic development, purchasing power, development potential, and the progress of infrastructure completion.

According to Dr. Nguyen Minh Phong, the fact that Hue’s market has not gone through a period of excessively rapid growth also creates more room for investment. However, turning this potential into real value requires the market to be built on a foundation of transparent planning, infrastructure, and legal frameworks. Authorities need to continue improving these conditions, while businesses need to take a closer look at their products, pricing, and target customer segments.