The Covid-19 outbreak in major cities in Vietnam has somewhat frozen the real estate market and put many real estate agents into a difficult situation. Experts urged realtors to quickly adapt to changes in customer's behavior to have a better chance of survival.

Social housing project at Bac Tu Liem District, Hanoi. Photo: Pham Hung

Vice General Director of the real estate website batdongsan.com.vn Nguyen Quoc Anh made the suggestion at a conference discussing solutions to help real estate agents overcome the pandemic on August 20.

With social distancing measures in place in cities including Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, or Binh Duong, constructions of many property projects were forced to be temporarily suspended, along with limited contacts between realtors and customers.

A number of real estates firms have to scale down operations and struggle to keep the business running at the moment.

Meanwhile, General Director of Dai Phuc Land Company Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong said the most challenging issues at the moment for property project owners are the lack of working capital and capabilities to pay debts.

“The majority had to secure bank loans or other financial sources to fund their projects,” she added.

The pandemic made the situation worse as many are unable to sell their products or carry on construction, Huong continued.

To give a clearer picture of the situation of real estate brokerage, General Director of real estate service company DKRA Vietnam Pham Lam said for the past three months, 50% of companies in Ho Chi Minh City recorded revenue below 10%.

“Companies without a source of income are struggling to boost sales as they were forced to scale down operation,” Lam said.

The market outlook, however, remains promising as the Director of CBRE Vietnam Duong Thuy Dung said demands for apartments in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in the first six months of this year exceeded supplies, which leads to rising prices in the market.

Sharing Dung’s view, Nguyen Quoc Anh from batdongsan.com.vn noted interests for housing rental or purchase have surged 54% year-on-year during the period.

“Firms should adopt IT and e-commerce in their interaction with customers during the social distancing period, which could also be seen as a way to enhance customers’ experience in looking at each property project,” Anh added.