Deputy PM calls for action to curb property speculation, price manipulation

Hanoi (VNA) – Standing Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Tuc, head of the Central Steering Committee for Housing Policy and the Real Estate Market, chaired a committee meeting on the morning of October 13 to review the implementation of housing policies over the first nine months of 2026 and set out tasks and priorities for the coming period.

Real estate market still faces major bottlenecks

Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Van Sinh said 2,221 commercial housing, land plot and tourism real estate projects are under way nationwide, with a total investment of approximately 6.87 quadrillion VND (265.19 billion USD). Of these, 1,850 projects are under construction, comprising 775,992 housing units and land plots, while 76 projects has been completed, providing 29,455 units and plots.

Prices of apartments and land plots on the secondary market tended to decline compared with the second quarter of 2026, but remained high in major cities.

Outstanding credit for real estate business activities stood at around 2.594 quadrillion VND, up 1.7% from July 31, 2026. In the third quarter, real estate enterprises issued approximately 36.95 trillion VND worth of corporate bonds as of September 18.

According to reports from 27 of the country's 34 provinces and cities, property inventories at projects totalled around 51,950 units and plots in the third quarter, up from the previous quarter. Nationwide, about 5,012 projects still faced difficulties and obstacles requiring resolution.

Regarding social housing development, 947 projects are under way nationwide, with a total of 910,933 units and an estimated investment of 841.338 trillion VND. The number of projects completed, launched or approved in principle has reached 91% of the target under the scheme to build one million social housing units.

In the first nine months of the year, 170 projects comprising 46,962 units were completed, while construction began on 128 projects with 183,293 units. Twenty-one localities were likely to meet or exceed their social housing targets, while six were unlikely to do so, namely Hanoi, Hue, Can Tho, Thai Nguyen, Tay Ninh and Dong Thap.

For rental housing, localities had registered to complete 17,176 units in 2026. By the end of the third quarter, 8,314 units had been completed nationwide, equivalent to 48% of the target. The Ministry of Construction estimated that 18,049 units could be completed over the full year, or 105% of the target.

At the meeting, ministries, sectors, localities and associations reported on progress in developing rental and social housing, real estate market conditions, supply and demand, and credit allocation. Many participants said access to credit remained extremely difficult and proposed measures to address obstacles in the sector.

Unlock resources, increase housing supply

With little time remaining in 2026 but a substantial workload still ahead, Standing Deputy PM Tuc urged ministries, sectors and localities to decisively implement policies on housing development and the real estate market.

The Ministry of Construction was asked to fully incorporate comments from the National Assembly Standing Committee, appraisal agencies and Government members into the draft revised Housing Law and Law on Real Estate Business, ensuring that they fully institutionalised the orientations set out in Resolution No. 21-NQ/TW and Notice No. 64-TB/VPTW. The ministry was also instructed to study appropriate sanctions against land left idle or not put into use, or whose use was delayed, in order to curb speculation.

Ministries, sectors and localities must strive to meet social and rental housing targets for 2026 and the 2026-2030 period, increase the proportion of social housing available for rent, and ensure housing development matches actual demand and is supported by synchronised infrastructure. They must also prevent housing from being left vacant and resources wasted. Chairpersons of provincial and municipal People's Committees will be held accountable to the Prime Minister for the results achieved against their assigned targets.

The Deputy PM called for the definitive resolution of long-standing projects and the commencement of operations at projects whose bottlenecks had been addressed, thereby unlocking resources and expanding supply, particularly housing priced within people's means.

He also called for close market monitoring, flexible use of credit, tax and land policy instruments, tighter risk controls, and firm action against speculation, price manipulation and other violations.

The Deputy PM assigned specific tasks to ministries, sectors, localities and relevant agencies. In particular, he urged the State Bank of Vietnam to direct credit institutions to improve access to financing, channel credit towards social and rental housing, and strive to lower lending rates while tightly controlling real estate credit risks.

Local authorities must assess housing needs among different population groups, allocate sufficient clean land in favourable locations with synchronised infrastructure, simplify procedures through a single-window, single-contact-point mechanism, resolve project bottlenecks and proactively regulate supply and demand in line with actual conditions./.

VNA