Positive outlook for Hanoi and HCM City's office rental market

Office rents in HCM City are 50 percent higher than in Hanoi, according to the Vietnam Real Estate Market Outlook by the real estate firm Commercial Real Estate Services (CBRE).

The real estate markets in both Hanoi and HCM City supposedly had a great year in 2017. CBRE predict that the real estate markets in both cities will continue to develop thanks to increased FDI and improved infrastructure.

While more office building projects completed last year in HCM City, Hanoi still suffers a severe lack of offices which led to a first significant price hike in a decade. However, according to CBRE, the office rents in HCM City still double those in Hanoi and this gap is not going to close any time soon.

There are not many new office building projects in Hanoi. However, this also means the market has time to absorb the leftover stock. The occupancy rate in grade A buildings was 91% as of late 2017, the highest since 2011. New supplies of rental offices are expected to increase by 4-8% a year from 2018 to 2019.

CBRE forecast that the annual rents for grade A buildings in Hanoi will increase by 3.5% and the occupancy rate will reach 98% this year. Banks and tech companies are in an active search for new headquarters. Education facilities and logistics company will continue to be regular customers.

HCM City's market also shows positive signs for 2018-2020 period thanks to sustainable economic growth and metro line projects.

New projects have been announced near the city's centre, an area has been neglected before, in order to meet demand for the next three years. Despite current high monthly rents of USD38 per square metre for grade A and USD21 for grade B buildings, prices will continue to increase by 2% each year.

Prices for grade B buildings will see a larger increase due to lower supply.