Real estate transactions in Hanoi plunge in Jan-Feb on coronavirus fears

Transactions of real estate in Hanoi sharply fell in the first two months this year due to impacts of the outbreak of a novel coronavirus.

Real estate transactions in Hanoi remain modest in January-February. Photo: Geleximco

Announcements on real estate sales in January fell 21% from the previous year and annoucenments on searching property products dropped 31% on-year, according to the municipal government’s website.

The spread of Covid-19 made people hesitant to come to the site for the location, position, and direction of the apartment or house of their interest, Nguyen Quoc Anh, deputy general director of real estate news website Batdongsan.com.vn, explained.

Anh attributed fears for the epidemic to the hesitance, saying that real estate transactions became low in the priority list of customers.

A number of events relating to launching ceremony, customer care services, and introducing samples had been cancelled between January and February, Mr. Anh was quoted as saying.

Another reason attributing to the limited number of transactions in the first two months was people’s indifference in this sector after the biggest holiday – the Lunar New Year or Tet holiday, Anh said.

Despite few transactions, prices of real estate, mainly detached houses and apartments, in Hanoi remained unchanged in the two-month period,  the expert said.

To aid the market, Anh said the government should provide some incentives including lower interest rates. The preferential policy would enable people at ages of 25-35 to buy houses or apartments instead of those aged between 45 and 60 like before.