VietNamNet Bridge - For those who can afford it Hanoi’s recently developed urban areas filled with luxury apartments and villas are an attractive place to either live or invest in.
Pham Van Thang watches as a line of luxury cars glide into The Manor, a recently built luxury complex located in Me Tri commune near My Dinh in Hanoi. “My paddy field used to be right there!” he says with a bemused smile. “The security guards told me that each apartment is worth billions of dong.
I can’t believe the owners could have so much money.” Since the Manor opened for business, Thang runs a rather scantily equipped tea stall opposite the opulent building; it is a rather telling juxtaposition of modern life in Vietnam. “I would have to work for a few hundred years just to buy one square metre,” adds Thang. Hanoi’s developing residential market has highlighted a new stratum of affluent Vietnamese.
Across the city the have-nots like Thang now gaze up from the shadows beneath complexes such as The Manor, Ciputra and Trung Hoa-Nhan Chinh. “There is a marked difference in the public’s living conditions,” says Nguyen Van Chien, the property leasing manager of Vietnam Property, a prestigious property company in the capital city.
Lord of the Manor
The Manor, which became operational early last year, was built and designed to “European standards”, and is conveniently situated nearby Hanoi’s largest supermarkets, Metro and BigC as well as a slew of restaurants looking to tap this new part of suburbia.
“Coming here you will have opportunities to enjoy international standard services because The Manor is a complex including office and commercial areas, residential and sports areas as well as areas for securities exchange and banking,” says Vu Hoang Nhat, The Manor’s Commercial Leasing Manager. With 26-storey towers and rows of villas, The Manor has more than 500 apartments, which have already been sold, and 13,000 square metres of office and commerce-oriented areas, of which 10,000sqm has already been rented. “It is great living here.
I can have whatever I want without going far,” says Kim Hoo, a Korean resident who came to live here five months ago and rents an apartment in the Manor for $1,600 per month. Residents have a swimming pool, shops, restaurants and other entertainment services at their doorstep. It is modern, luxurious and convenient living. Hoo’s husband Chung Pak also appreciates the added security measures. “Cameras are fixed every where. Though other people think that sometimes they feel they are being watched, I don’t think like that.
The cameras ensure we are safe,” he says. While the Manor appeals to foreign businesspeople coming to Hanoi for work, some 80 per cent of residents living in The Manor are Vietnamese. Now that the area is feeling more populated and atmospheric, more foreigners might be tempted to live here. “Over the past two years, the number of foreign residents living here has surged. Now they occupy 20 per cent of the residents,” says Nhat.
“It is expected that this will increase.” The increase in the number of foreign invested property projects being developed near The Manor has pushed the number of foreign residents in The Manor up. Most of them are Korean, Japanese while the rest come from Europe and America. At present, the average rental for a two-bedroom apartment sits at $1,500 per month and the average selling rate is $2,500 per square metre, higher than that in Ciputra and Trung Hoa-Nhan Chinh areas.
“In the context of Vietnam’s property market being frozen, despite a slash in buying and renting rates, the rates in The Manor have only witnessed a slight reduction,” adds Nhat. “This is because of The Manor’s fame. It offers services that cannot be found in other areas.”
The charms of Ciputra
Ciputra, Hanoi’s largest housing development area, would be considered one of The Manor’s main rivals. “Many people comment on the architecture of Ciputra. Compared to other compounds, like CoCo Village or Sedona Suites, even The Manor, I think Ciputra does have its charm,” says Anna Langrish-Smith, the manager of J.A.F.A Restaurant, which is located on the ground floor of Ciputra’s twin towers.
“I like the layout of all the blocks and other buildings. It shows how much space there is around. It doesn’t feel crowded at all, which is unusual considering the number of people living here,” she says. “It is also relatively quiet once inside Ciputra, as traffic is restricted to residents only, so the noise from the streets is minimal, unlike other areas where there is constant noise surrounding you.”
Nguyen Van Chien from Vietnam Property values Ciputra’s ecological environment, which gives it an advantage over other modern urban areas. Residents can also avail of two fitness centres, two swimming pools and tennis courts. You can also find a beauty salon, laundromat, a pharmacy, a post office, a travel agency, two mini-marts as well as restaurants.
A shopping mall and a golf course have also been planned. According to Anna, the recent trend seems to be more Vietnamese families moving in, with western families moving to other areas. There is also a growing Korean and Japanese community. For families with kids attending United Nations International School (UNIS) Ciputra is an obvious choice. “It is because of UNIS that I like Ciputra as it is very convenient for me to take care of my kids while I am out working every day.
You also do not have to go too far outside to find what you are looking for,” says Jimmy Carton, a resident of Ciputra. “Because of all the other families living here, it makes it feel like a safer community, where everyone gets to know each other.” “Most nationalities are represented here, which is good because it adds to the diversity and reflects what living in Hanoi is all about,” adds Carton. According to Chien, the average selling prices in Ciputra is $2,000 per square metre.
Trung Hoa-Nhan Chinh
Trung Hoa-Nhan Chinh is an ever-expanding forest of apartment towers and business centres in Cau Giay district. Residents here are mostly Vietnamese, though there are also residents from Japan, Korea and Europe. Operational since 2003, there are 13 tower blocks offering assorted services. The apartments are located from the second floor upwards.
The average rental rate is around $1,000 per month while the selling rate is around $1,200 per square metre. “I like living here as there are many Koreans here,” says Min Choe, a South Korean himself. “We can find every thing from my country here,” he adds pointing to a restaurant on the first floor. “You can get Korean style kim chi there. There is even a shop making and selling the traditional Han bok dress of Korea.” According to Min Choe many Korean people favour Trung Hoa-Nhan Chinh area as it has been built on a favourable strip of land that reflects the principles of geomancy, which Asian people highly appreciate.
What’s in store for the future?
Not surprisingly property speculators have been getting rich off rising demand for high-end apartments in the capital city. “Speculators are ready to buy five to 10 serviced apartments at high prices to sell or lease. More than one third of the apartments in the said urban areas belong to speculators,” says Chien.
According to Chien, over the next three to five years, more people will soon be able to buy high-end apartments as their savings and living conditions will increase. As of the first day of next year, foreigners in certain circumstances will also be able to buy apartments in developments approved for foreign residency (not houses or land).
Nevertheless real estate developers said the law was likely to give a much needed boost to Vietnam’s property markets, which have softened recently after explosive growth in 2007. Ownership will be for a term of 50 years, by which time the foreign owners must sell or transfer the property. Those eligible to buy apartments include foreign firms purchasing housing for staff, and four categories of individuals.
These include foreigners working at Vietnamese firms, foreigners married to Vietnamese, foreigners with special skills needed by Vietnam’s economy, and foreigners who have been awarded medals or other honours by the government.
(Source: Timeout)
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