The number of property projects in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang surpasses actual demand, experts have said.

The province – also known by its Khmer name Bassac – has 62 real estate projects that have been approved for development in addition to many existing projects, said the provincial Department of Construction.

Provincial capital Vi Thanh city, with a population of around 200,000, has 21 new projects under development, while other cities and districts have around 10. The projects cover hundreds of hectares, consisting of mostly land plots.

Many realtors had said there were too many property projects. TNL Real Estate Company director-general Nguyen Thanh Nam told the investment newspaper Bao Dau Tu that Hau Giang’s supply of real estate projects was much higher than demand.

The province’s population was only 733,000 as of last year, and had been declining over the years, he said.

In addition, real estate businesses were mostly targeting investors that plan to resell their property, as opposed to people who were planning to stay there, he said.

Meanwhile, Le Tien Chau, chairman of the province’s People’s Committee, said that while the number of urban areas and property projects was adequate, their quality, scale and connectivity were not up to standards.

“Real estate development needs to focus on bettering the lives of locals and urban development should be sustainable. To ensure enough physical space for the future, it should not surpass actual demand,” he said.

The province said it would improve management of real estate development to ensure that pricing would not be too high compared to locals’ earnings, and that calls for investment are done legally.

With an abundance of land and improvements in the investment climate, Hau Giang has been attracting more and more investment projects, especially in real estate.

VIET NAM NEWS/ASIA NEWS NETWORK