VinaCapital exceeds expectations

VinaCapital exceeds expectations

VinaCapital, the leading asset management and real estate development firm focused on Vietnam, has said that 246 residential properties were sold during the second quarter of 2011. This represented a value of $16.7m. (Q1 2011: 235 contracts worth $20.9m.).

The sales contracts include cleared land and foundations for townhouses at Project Venus in Nha Trang, and villas and condominium units at three other residential projects currently under development in Danang and Ho Chi Minh City.

Total reservations of over $30m. were also signed during the period, exceeding expectations given current market conditions.

David Henry, Managing Director of VinaCapital's real estate division, said: "The market as a whole has slowed in Vietnam due to high interest rates, this has hurt both developers and home-buyers. Some developers have dropped prices by 40-50% in order to generate sales. We have maintained sales while actually increasing average selling prices over the period at some projects. It was therefore a successful quarter even though conditions did not allow us to match the sales recorded during Q1 2011.

"The real estate market will, in general, remain slow during 2011 as interest rates are not expected to drop significantly until late in the year or early 2012. VinaCapital is well-placed to weather the temporary downturn and adjust its project launches to match market conditions. Our VinaLiving brand is already helping to generate a price premium on our competitors.

"It should be noted that while the level of contracted sales is encouraging given the current economic circumstances, due to the residential real estate buying process in Vietnam, it will be some time before full payment is received in respect of the units sold and the cash subsequently becomes available at the VNL and VOF fund level."

Stockmarketwire