Apartment prices cannot cool down as high-end supply continues to dominate

The Ho Chi Minh City real estate market research report in the first quarter of 2026, which has just been released by many companies, shows that selling prices in the apartment segment continue to increase by over 10% compared to the same period last year.Although in the past time, housing loan interest rates have been maintained at a high level and consumption is trending downwards.

According to Avison Young's Vietnam real estate market report for the first quarter of 2026, housing supply continues to recover, but transactions are still modest in the context of macroeconomic fluctuations and sharp increases in lending interest rates.

According to Avison Young, in the first quarter of 2026, primary apartment prices in Ho Chi Minh City reached 3,900 USD/m2, equivalent to about 103 million VND/m2.In the first quarter of 2026, 15,000 products were opened for sale.Of which, 35% came from new projects, most concentrated in Binh Duong.The high-end and luxury segments prevailed.Notably, after each sale, prices increased by an average of 3% compared to the previous quarter.Primary market liquidity improved, while the secondary market stagnated.

A report from Knight Frank consulting unit also shows that the primary asking price of apartments in Ho Chi Minh City after expansion reached an average of more than 97 million VND/m2, especially the central area (Ho Chi Minh City before) was 107 million VND/m2, an increase of 3.2% compared to the previous quarter and 11.8% year-on-year. This is the highest price recorded in many years.

Even in newly merged areas such as Binh Duong and Ba Ria - Vung Tau, the price level is also set at a higher level.These areas supplement supply from the mid-range and affordable segments, contributing to creating price differences between regions, but not enough to reduce the general level.

The average primary selling price in these localities currently reaches about 60 million VND/m2, while supply below 40 million VND/m2 is increasingly scarce.Instead, the market recorded an increase in high-end positioning projects, with popular prices in the range of 60-80 million VND/m2, thereby continuing to push the general price level up.

Mr. Alex Crane - General Director of Knight Frank Vietnam - said that the increase in apartment prices in Ho Chi Minh City is not only cyclical but also reflects the structural shift of the market. As inner-city land funds are increasingly limited and project development costs are continuously increasing, new supply is forced to be positioned in the high-end segment to ensure profit margins, thereby pulling the price level up.

The trend of increasing apartment prices in Ho Chi Minh City is predicted by experts to continue as new supply still leans towards the high-end segment, while land funds for project development are increasingly scarce.

According to information recorded by reporters, in the coming time, the supply at new projects in the last period of 2026 will mainly focus on the luxury segment and investors offer prices with a common price level of over 120 million VND/m2.

For example, Dai Quang Minh has just reappeared on the market with the luxury project Sarene Residence & Commercial Complex in Sala urban area.The project has a scale of 1.6 ha, about 600 apartments, expected to open for sale in the second quarter of 2026.Although the price has not been announced, distributors said that the asking price is difficult to be below 200 million VND/m2, according to the current price level in Thu Thiem.

The supply of luxury continues to increase with Thu Thiem Zeit River phase 2 about 300 units, the next phases of Sadora and Sarina about 840 units, and the The Monarch (MU3) sub-area belonging to Empire City has started construction, with a scale of about 3,800 units.In addition, the new phases of Palm City and many other projects are expected to be launched in the second half of the year with an expected price level The inner city of Ho Chi Minh City continues to strongly lean towards the high-end segment when many projects simultaneously open for sale or launch new phases, with popular price levels from 130-150 million VND/m2.

In that context, the supply of affordable housing is almost absent.

It is noteworthy that the wave of high-end segment development has also spread to surrounding areas where housing in the mid-price segment has only been built for a long time. In Binh Duong, some projects are starting to be predicted by the market to be priced at 80-100 million VND/m2, reflecting the trend of expanding the development space of the high-end segment outside the core area of Ho Chi Minh City.

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