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CBRE sees HCMC market potential for serviced apartments
With the rental offices sector becoming saturated, US real estate services provider CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) has advised local developers to switch to investing in apartments for rent.
Ho Chi Minh City’s apartments for rent, or serviced apartments (SAs), are greatly undersupplied when compared to the amount of available rental offices, CBRE said in a statement Wednesday.
There exists a total of 810,000 square meters of office space against 300,000 square meters of apartments for rent.
At the moment, there are 3,000 SAs available, of which less than 25 percent are considered of Grade A-level. CBRE said this figure is too low to meet the demand of the 81,000-strong expatriate community in HCMC.
CBRE said over the past five years, SA rent has increased 5 to 10 percent each year, reflecting a growing demand. In the second quarter of this year alone, SA rent increased by 5 to 8 percent despite slow macro-economic growth.
At present, Grade A apartments of 60-80 square meters can fetch as much as US$49 per square meter in rent.
Although the local SA market may have an additional 340,000 square meters by 2013, this increase still won’t be able to meet consumers’ demand, CBRE said.
Demand for rental offices and high-end residential homes, meanwhile, seems to be declining. Office landlords are presently reducing rent and offering additional benefits to attract tenants, CBRE said.
Additionally, the long queues to purchase units in upscale residential areas like The Vista, Estella, Hoang Anh Gia Lai and Sky Garden Three appear to have vanished in the economic downturn.
Thanhnien
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