From years of observing buyer behaviour, Hien believes the top priorities for Vietnamese purchasers are location, developer and facilities & amenities.
“Home buyers in Vietnam also prioritise size and design of living space, quality of the neighbourhood and especially location," he said, adding that this particular factor ranked number one in Vietnam.
“The central business district is the economic and financial hub while residential neighbourhoods situate in less central locations. As our transportation systems are not fully developed and public transport is not convenient and widely used, location remains the most important factor,” Hien said.
He said: “A difference to note is the insignificant importance of factors such as maintenance and energy efficiency for buyers in Vietnam."
Instead, buyers prioritise factors associated with the quality of the residential product such as reputation of developer, capability of construction company, quality of handover, and facilities and amenities.
"This behaviour indicates buyers’ lessons and experiences from the early days of Vietnam residential market with poor quality projects, delayed construction progress and lack of development planning – a situation observed in a developing property market,” Hien said.
Hien also noted another intriguing behaviour of Vietnamese buyers that, “Another factor that has significant impact on our buyers’ decisions, but is rather difficult to rank among other priorities is feng shui. This traces back to the customs and culture of the region, Vietnamese included."
"Buyers take in to consideration history and terrain of the development’s land, the direction which the apartment or villa faces and favour products with good feng shui. This factor has been contributing to the success of many residential developments and locations, namely Thu Thiem area in Ho Chi Minh City, which people believe brings good feng shui and thus is witnessing impressive transaction prices," Hien added.
