Building a land price adjustment coefficient in a direction that benefits people

Survey of nearly 10,000 routes to build K coefficient

The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has approved the project to build a land price adjustment coefficient (coefficient K) in Ho Chi Minh City, applied from July 1. 2026. The project will deploy 29,000 survey forms in 9,746 roads and sections. Each road will have at least 3 survey forms implemented by valuation organizations, in order to collect data close to market developments.

The K coefficient is used to adjust the land price list according to each area and location, as a basis for calculating land use fees and financial obligations. The construction of this coefficient aims to reduce the difference between the State price and the market price, while increasing transparency in management.

In the process of implementation, units will investigate, classify land, zone value, select standard land plots and build comparison tables to calculate the K coefficient to each location. At the same time, the results of applying the current K coefficient are also reviewed and analyzed to complete the new construction method.

The project implementation scope is throughout the city, with the basic investigation unit being the commune and ward level. The collected data will be summarized and processed to form a common database to serve management work.

According to Resolution 254/2025/QH15, localities must issue the K coefficient before July 1 to serve as a basis for calculating land use fees, land rent and related financial obligations.

Previously, Ho Chi Minh City applied a new land price list from the beginning of 2026. The K coefficient will be multiplied by the land price list to bring the calculated price closer to the market price, contributing to increasing transparency in land management.

Land use fees may increase sharply

The K coefficient includes the market fluctuation adjustment coefficient, the planning adjustment coefficient, and the adjustment coefficient according to other factors affecting land prices. According to preliminary surveys, the K coefficient for calculating land use fees when changing land use purposes and calculating compensation is expected to be 1.2 times or more depending on the location. For agricultural land, the K coefficient may be higher.

Many opinions believe that the construction of the K coefficient must ensure objectivity and fairness. Dr. Nguyen Duy Phuong - Investment Director of DG Capital - said that the Ho Chi Minh City land price list is currently at a high level in many areas, the construction of the K coefficient needs to shift from increasing thinking to adjusting thinking close to the market. Building a land price list close to the actual price is a quite important direction, so it is necessary to build it according to the adjustment direction to be close to reality, not by default that the K coefficient must be increased. If the price base is already high and the K coefficient is built according to the old thinking "K is always greater than 1", it is very easy to make the price calculation of people's financial obligations increase.

The solution that this expert đưa ra is that the coefficient must be determined from actual transaction data, possibly equal to 1 or less than 1 in some places, instead of defaulting to greater than 1. This helps reduce the financial burden for people and businesses in the context of rising prices and the economy still facing many difficulties.

Not only households and individuals are affected, according to Mr. Le Hoang Chau - Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association (HoREA), determining land prices with a K coefficient makes the land use fee of the project to be paid very high and unreasonable, so it is necessary to build a land price adjustment coefficient applied to each area, location, and project to apply to real estate projects, commercial housing, and urban areas.

Mr. Le Hoang Chau gave an example: Suppose there is a land plot on Nguyen Xien street, Ho Chi Minh City with an area of 1ha, the land price list is 56.6 million VND, the current land price adjustment coefficient is about 1.4 times, which is about 80 million VND/m2. Thus, if applying "Land price list x land price adjustment coefficient", then when recovering land, allocating land, changing land use purposes... land price of 80 million VND/m2 will be applied.

Meanwhile, also on Nguyen Xien street, there is a high-rise apartment project with a land area of 10,000m2 with a land use coefficient of 7 times. The current apartment price is 50 million VND/m2.

Taking the project implementation time threshold of 2 years, after deducting sales, management, loan interest expenses, deducting investor profits and deducting construction costs, it shows that if the "surplus method" is applied, the surplus value is only about 35 million VND/m2, while calculated according to the "K coefficient" is 80 million VND/m2 (2.28 times higher). Thus, in order not to lose capital, businesses must push the selling price above 100 million VND/m2.

From the above example, it shows that land use fees may increase sharply when applying the new price list, putting great pressure on project costs. If selling prices are not increased, businesses will find it difficult to stand firm; conversely, house prices are at risk of continuing to escalate, and supply becomes more scarce.

According to Mr. Chau, land valuation for real estate projects, commercial housing, and urban areas is different from individual residential land due to its large scale, high land use coefficient but low construction density, and large differences in investment rates between segments. Therefore, it is necessary to build a realistic K coefficient, avoiding negative impacts, increasing financial burdens for businesses and people.

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