Are we entering the golden era of Vietnamese housing?

In a survey of investors by Forbes Vietnam, more than 71 percent of respondents, given the opportunity, signaled an intention to buy apartments in the country. Meanwhile, 50 percent of resort villas and 70 percent of condotels were sold last year, while launches of resort villas and condotels amounted to 3,000 and 15,000, respectively, according to several market analysts.

The findings corroborate the rapid growth of tourism, which comprises 13.9 percent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in real estate has gained a headstart in 2017. Four property projects, valued at USD100 million, between local property titan Indochina Capital and Japan’s Kajima Corporation are due to launch in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Danang this year.

Singaporean developers appear to be just as bullish on Vietnam’s prospects. In addition to its Somerset-branded serviced apartment tower, launched in October, CapitaLand Group is preparing to begin construction of its first office tower in the country. Located in Ho Chi Minh City’s tony District 1, the project is due for completion in 2020.

"We will continue to grow our business in Vietnam,” Capitaland Group chairman Ng Kee Choe recently told reporters. "We acquired some sites and then we’re also looking at our first commercial project, a Grade A office building.”

CapitaLand has already sold 30 percent of the 40 apartments in the Somerset project. "This is CapitaLand’s third acquisition in Vietnam since 2015, a testament of our confidence in Vietnam’s positive economic outlook,” Chen Lian Pang, CEO of CapitaLand Vietnam and winner of the 2016 Real Estate Personality award.

Not to be outdone, South Koreans, led by Lotte Group, are due to begin work on an eco-smart community this year. The project, a 17-hectare, USD2.2 billion venture with Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation, Mitsubishi Estate, and Toshiba Corporation, have completed initial planning phases.