Factors young people need to consider when buying a house

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Factors young people need to consider when buying a house

Guide news

27/02/2025

Banks have adjusted interest rates and launched preferential loan packages to help young people have more opportunities to own apartments, especially in the affordable segment in the suburbs.

Buying a house is the dream of many workers, especially young families in big cities. However, the average income and income growth rate are not keeping up with the increase in housing prices, which is a current situation. According to calculations by the Batdongsan platform, if comparing the average salary and housing prices, a worker in his or her 30s will spend about 25.8 years of income to buy an apartment (60 m2) for about 3 billion VND, under the condition that the mobilization interest rate is 4.5%.

Therefore, for young people who want to own a house, using borrowed capital and carefully choosing the apartment segment is necessary.

A positive signal is that by 2025, the home loan market will have adjusted interest rates, much lower than the normal loan interest rates on the market (8-12% per year). Some major banks offer incentives of 4.5-6.5% per year in the initial phase, reducing financial pressure for borrowers.

Khuôn viên dự án Destino Centro tại khu Tây TP HCM. Ảnh: Seaholdings

The Destino Centro project campus in the West of Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Seaholdings

For example, MSB Bank offers a fixed rate of 4.5% per year for 6 months, 6.2% for 12 months and 7.5% for the first 24 months. Techcombank applies a fixed interest rate of 5% per year for 3 months to 7.5% per year for 24 months. SeABank fixes 5.5% for the first 12 months, then floats with a margin of about 3.35%.

ACB alone offers a "First Home" loan package for young people (aged 18 to 35) with stable jobs and regular monthly income. Accordingly, the maximum loan term is up to 30 years, with a fixed interest rate for the first period up to 60 months (5 years) from 5.5% per year, 3% lower than the bank's usual published interest rate. In addition, this loan package also has advantages such as simple procedures with flexible principal repayment methods, only needing to pay from 2% of the principal each year. Customers also have a grace period for principal repayment for up to 12 months from the date the loan is disbursed and free collateral valuation.

According to financial experts, preferential loan packages and interest rate reductions by a series of commercial banks are positive signals in supporting young people to access capital. This also contributes to promoting the real estate market and serving the need for settling down.

However, in addition to taking advantage of preferential credit packages, experts say that young people need to consider many factors when buying a house, especially their ability to pay to avoid financial pressure. This is not easy because housing prices in big cities like Ho Chi Minh City are high, while the supply of affordable apartments is scarce.

According to Savills Vietnam's 2024 real estate market overview report, in the last three months of the year, Ho Chi Minh City apartments set a new record price, averaging VND91 million per square meter (excluding taxes and fees). This year, the city is expected to have more than 10,000 apartments for primary sale (investors open for sale), 80% of which are in the high-end and luxury segments, concentrated in inner-city districts and Thu Duc City. The starting primary price is all over VND65 million per square meter.

For Class C real estate, which is usually in suburban districts, this year it is expected to have about 2,000 units. However, according to Savills, 80% of the above apartments have the lowest expected selling price from VND50 million to VND65 million per square meter, mostly concentrated in Binh Chanh and Binh Tan districts.

According to the Vietnam Association of Realtors, with a common price of 40-70 million VND per square meter, a small apartment of about 60 square meters in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City will cost about 2.5-3.5 billion VND. Considering income and housing prices, even the group of 20% of the population with the highest income in Vietnam (13-20 million VND per month) finds it very difficult to own a house.

Destino Centro có giá công bố từ 26,8 triệu đồng mỗi m2. Ảnh: Seaholdings

Destino Centro has a published price from 26.8 million VND per square meter. Photo: Seaholdings

In the above context, moving to the gateway area, the city border to find affordable apartments is a suitable choice for many young people. For example, Destino Centro is attracting a lot of attention with prices from 26.8 million VND per square meter. The project is located on the frontage of National Highway 1, in Ben Luc district, Long An, only 2km from the border of Ho Chi Minh City. The "soft" price is considered an advantage of the project compared to the general level of the neighboring area. If taking advantage of preferential loan packages from commercial banks, young people can own an apartment with a more reasonable investment level.

Destino Centro has a series of modern amenities such as 4 internal swimming pools, kindergarten and traditional garden design. Recently, this apartment complex was ranked by the Vietnam Real Estate Market Research Institute and VARs Connect as one of the top 5 promising projects of the Vietnam real estate market in 2025.

Hoài Phương