|
Local realty developers spark promotion ‘war’
Many property developers in Vietnam have entered a ‘war’ of promotion campaigns to drive up sales in a desperate bid to get their payback, given the existing pressure of high interest rates on bank loans.
Hoang Anh Gia Lai has just announced its cooperation with VP Bank to support the buyers of three of its housing projects expected to be launched for sale in the first quarter of this year.
Accordingly, those who purchase units at Thanh Binh, Incomex, and Phu Hoang Anh condominiums will only be required to make an initial down payment of 30 percent of an apartment’s price, said Doan Nguyen Duc, Chairman of Hoang Anh Gia Lai.
The balance, payable in two years, can be covered by unsecured loans from VP Bank with a 4 percent reduction in interest rates, Duc added.
Phat Dat Real Estate Development Corporation had previously unveiled another promotion campaign for its new housing project, The Everrich II, in late December last year.
Buyers who purchased the 150 units in Phat Dat’s second sale launch just paid 30 percent of a condominium’s price in advance, the remaining will be collected in one payment, without any interest rate, when the condo is completed in 2013.
Introducing promotions to boost revenues was actually pioneered by Setia Becamex – a joint venture business between Malaysian developer Setia and the Binh Duong-based real estate firm Becamex – at the beginning of the fourth quarter of last year.
Customers who bought houses at the Ecolakes project in Binh Duong Province merely had to pay 30 percent in advance; the remaining 70 percent would be paid in installments, using interest-free bank loans.
A more competitive package was offered at the Imperia An Phu project (Formerly known as the Blooming Park) in mid-December last year. Buyers were required to pay 25 percent of a unit’s price first and the rest could be settled by no-interest bank loans as well.
Some other developers have also joined the buyer-support race, including Thu Duc House (Truong Tho project), Dat Xanh (Sun View project) and Phuoc Thanh (Hoang Kim The Gia project).
Promotional programs are doing their work
Buyers have shown more interest in the Ecolakes project and 100 of them have signed purchase agreements following its developer’s support program, Nguyen Thanh Lam, Deputy General Director of Setia Becamex, told Tuoi Tre.
Duc of Hoang Anh Gia Lai hopes the promotion together with a reasonable pricing policy will improve his firm’s sales performance.
The support programs by many developers will encourage end-users and secondary investors to purchase more properties without too much concern over payment of interest rates, remarked Nguyen Van Dat, Chairman of Phat Dat.
But interest rates should be lowered
“Current demand for housing in Ho Chi Minh City is huge but bank interest has been a major obstacle. Not everyone will be willing to take out loans to buy an apartment at an 18 percent interest rate as it is now,” Duc complained.
Dat echoed the complaint by saying it is very hard for the real estate market to recover if interest rates stay so high.
Other industry experts believe high interest rates have knocked the wind out of the realty market’s sails, thus putting enormous pressure on both buyers and developers, urging the latter to launch those support programs to recoup their investment.
A CEO of a real estate company notes that those able to offer promotions are all big players with strong finance and a cheap and ‘clean’ land bank.
Meanwhile, many other developers are currently having a tough time trying to sell their products. They, however, cannot initiate such similar campaigns due to limited financial resources.
tuoitrenews
|
