19/06/2018

Real-estate companies: one heads up North, the other goes down South

To the North
Dat Xanh Group (DXG)’s 2017 annual report shows that among the three outstanding M & A deals conducted by this company last year, there is a merger of Sai Dong Development and Investment JSC, Hanoi. Accordingly, DXG holds 70.99% of charter capital in Sai Dong, Ha Noi – the holder of 10.000-m2 Sai Dong Complex with 321 apartments, 21 townhouses in Long Bien District, Hanoi and a total investment 850 billion dong. Speaking about 2018 plan, in addition to the key project Gem Riverside (HCMC), DXG will continue to implement projects invested by the Company in Hanoi as well as the northern market.
Meanwhile, Nam Long Investment Corporation (NLG), after unlocking two major projects Mizuki Park (South Saigon) and 355-hectare township Waterpoint (Ben Luc, Long An), in 2018, NLG will advance with housing projects in Hanoi and Hai Phong. According to Steven Chu, General Director of Nam Long, in order to expand its presence in the Northern market, NLG has chosen a local partner with available land fund to develop affordable housing product line. The size of each property that Nam Long is focusing the northern market ranges from 20 to 50ha, to create a compound township with full facilities.
In mid-May, Daewon - Thuduc Housing Development JSC (DWTD) - joint venture (in which, Thuduc House owns 40% of contributed capital) of Thuduc Housing Development Corporation (Thuduc House) and Daewon Group, Korea, signed a contract to establish a joint venture with Vietnam Manufacturing Export Processing Co. (VMEP) to share capital contribution to the c complex project in Ha Dong district (Hanoi). New company SYM - DWTD will develop office area, commercial center for rent, apartment building, lower floor apartment on a 40.600 m2 area. Total investment for this project is estimated at $115 million and it will be implemented over 5 years
Thuduc House has been involved in Hanoi property market via Green Pearl complex project (Hai Ba Trung district), which has townhouse, apartment, shop house. According to information from Thuduc House, low-rise houses (with red book for each house) have been sold, while the apartment is under construction, expected to be introduced this year.

Expanding the market
Not only southern real estate companies expand their presence in northern market, many real estate developers in the North such as Vingroup, TNR Holdings, Tuan Chau Group, Van Phu Invest (VPI) also head to southern market. 
VPI has been listed on HNX since late 2017 and will move its listing to HoSE next June. In preparation for the transfer, VPI introduced the investment opportunity in Van Phu Invest at the end of May, which attracted attention in the real estate market from 2009 with the Van Phu (Hanoi) project. Speaking about the development, Van Phu representative said it will continue to accumulate land fund in the inner districts of Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and major tourist centers. Van Phu Invest also aims to increase the ownership structure of real estate for lease on the total assets and profit from real estate leasing. According to the latest disclosure of VPI, the company will soon build houses in the center of Ho Chi Minh City.
TNR Holdings, a real estate developer holding more than 400ha of land in many major cities, has joined hands with Tai Nguyen to deploy the villas in district 7, Ho Chi Minh City, following the success of The Gold View complex (District 4, HCMC). According to TNR Holdings, the company will continue to seek business opportunities, expand the land fund in Ho Chi Minh City, especially in the area where they can implement high-end products.
Talking about the journey “up North, down South” of real estate companies, Nguyen Ngoc Truong Chinh, deputy general director of Thuduc House, said that this depends on the business strategy of each company. In general, housing demand is big in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. In the north, the market favors modest and comfortable product line which has to be easily connected to the central area. However, clean land fund is very limited and expensive to develop, so many businesses will choose to exploit new markets. Nguyen Xuan Quang, Chairman of Nam Long Group said that the residue of the housing market in Hanoi is still very large, but the house price is relatively high and Nam Long advantage is the development of low price houses, in combination with local partners that own reasonably pricing land fund, to create products with competitive advantages.

By: Doanh Nhân Sài Gòn