Ambigutties in the emerging land and housing market in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam | |
| Author | Truong Thien Thu |
| Call Number | AIT Diss. no.UE-10-01 |
| Subject(s) | Right of property--Vietnam Acquisition of property---Vietnam Housing--Vietnam |
| Note | A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Urban Environmental Management |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Dissertation ; no. UE-10-01 |
| Abstract | Collective ownership of land is at the heart of socialist ideology in the central planning system while private ownership is at the heart of capitalist ideology in the market-oriented system. There has been a wide variation in the extent to which the transition economies develop a legal property rights system. Hence, the transition economies are ideal cases to examine the relationship between property right systems and markets. Although Vietnam’s reforms provided some of the weakest legal private property rights amongst the transition countries, the emerging land and housing market in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) is noted as experiencing a ‘thriving condition’. Employing the policy analysis technique and a market survey of 494 housing development projects, this study examined the underlying causes of that ‘thriving condition’. Moreover, key informant interviews were conducted with 16 officials from city and district authorities, 75 property developers, and 120 buyers, in order to obtain the views of the key stakeholders on the prevailing land and pricing policy. The analysis of land policies revealed that public ownership of land is strictly maintained despite the change of economic policies in Vietnam. Low-land-prices fixed by the central government are used to attract investments for development projects, especially to stimulate Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs). However, FDIs have been restricted in the housing sector until 2003, and limited since then. The study finds that this is a reason amongst others that helped Vietnam passing through the Asian Financial Crisis of 1997 with least effects. However, as revealed by the survey of housing development projects, low-land-price policy has created prolonged conflicts in land acquisition. It was further revealed that only 6% of launched housing projects have actually been completed as a result of this condition. A subsequent survey of a subset of housing development projects (113 out of 494) revealed that ‘intermediate’ transactions are wide spread in the land and housing market in HCMC. This is a result of the feverish trading of the limited supply of finished housing units as well as units’ under-construction. Repeated buying and selling of the same property stimulate private and household savings into land and housing market. In the context of limited availability of capital, especially mortgage loans, the ‘intermediate’ transactions bring finance to the market and its result is a ‘thriving condition’. It was revealed that due to lack of financial regulations the government loses the opportunity to collect substantial tax from these ‘intermediate’ transactions. On the basis of these findings, the study diversifies the debate on how an immature housing market can flexibly operates with less support from foreign-related capital and financial institutions in a transition economy. The study finds that the ‘thriving condition’ in the land and housing market in Ho Chi Minh City is pre-dominantly a endogenous phenomenon, protected from the global trends and forces, and from the influence of late twentieth century property boom in some mega-cities in South East Asia such as Manila, Jakarta, and Bangkok. The insights on such phenomenon can help decision makers in HCMC, to understand the rationality and irrationality of the two-price system for land and intermediate levels of property rights. The theoretical and practical implications of the underlying causes of ‘thriving condition’ in the land and housing market in HCMC can direct to appropriate adjustments of land and housing policies. |
| Year | 2010 |
| Corresponding Series Added Entry | Asian Institute of Technology. Dissertation ; no. UE-10-01 |
| Type | Dissertation |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Development and Sustainability (DDS) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Urban Environmental and Management (UE) |
| Chairperson(s) | Perera, Ranjith |
| Examination Committee(s) | Sajor, Edsel E. ;Shrestha, Rajendra S, |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Project 300, Vietnam ;Asian Institute of Technology Fellowship |
| Degree | Thesis (Ph.D.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2010 |