Unsold Homes Pile Up in HCMC Due to High Prices
While new real estate projects sell fast, HCMC’s unsold inventory remains stagnant due to high prices, poor locations, and lack of buyer interest.
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Ho Chi Minh Cityās Real Estate Inventory Remains Stubbornly Unsold
In the first quarter of 2025, Ho Chi Minh Cityās real estate market showed a sharp divide: while newly launched residential projects saw healthy sales, unsold inventory from previous years remained stagnant. Experts blame high pricing, less desirable locations, and outdated layouts for this imbalance between supply and demand.
A Market of New Launches vs. Old Inventory
According to Savills Vietnamās Q1 market report, the city recorded 800 newly launched apartments and over 4,200 unsold units carried forward from previous sales cycles. This pushed the total primary supplyāthe total number of units available directly from developersāto around 5,000 units, a slight increase of 2% year-over-year.
However, only 1,400 apartments were sold during the quarter, translating to a modest absorption rate of 28%. Notably, only 23% of unsold units found buyers, while new launches achieved a much healthier absorption rate of over 61%.
Nationwide Inventory Concerns
The concern over unsold housing inventory isn’t limited to Ho Chi Minh City. Knight Frank Vietnam reported that during Q1/2025, the city had 619 new apartments on offer but more than 3,600 unsold units from previous phases. Of the 689 units sold, 80% were from newly launched projects.
The Ministry of Construction reported that by the end of Q4/2024, over 17,000 real estate unitsāranging from condos to houses and land plotsāremained unsold nationwide. According to data from VietstockFinance, as of December 2024, 103 listed real estate developers held more than VND 491 trillion ($20 billion) in inventoryāa record high over the past two decades.
Buyers Prefer New Over Old
A consumer behavior survey by property portal Batdongsan.vn supports this trend. Nearly 80% of prospective homebuyers expressed a preference for newly launched developments. These projects are seen as offering more modern designs, better amenities, and greater potential for price appreciation.
This behavior continues to widen the demand-supply gap. While developers keep offering new projects in phases, most of the cityās real demand is not being captured by old inventory.
A Closer Look at Unsold Property Risks
Real estate experts categorize unsold inventory into two types: uncompleted projects and completed units that remain on the market. The former is less concerning, as it can still be adjusted during development. The latter, however, is a red flag.
Completed units that fail to sell hurt developersā balance sheets, clog cash flows, and risk becoming long-term liabilities. Legal ambiguities, pricing issues, and poor location or design are among the leading reasons that make these units undesirable.
āUnsold, finished units that canāt move are a clear sign of lost liquidity,ā said a market analyst. āThey indicate that developers are not aligned with buyer demand.ā
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