THE HOPE FOR A HOME
Many Overseas Vietnamese wish to own a house in Vietnam but they have to wait until regulations on house sales to overseas Vietnamese come out.

By Vu Tung – HCM City

Owning a house in HCM City is always a strong wish to Le Van Thanh, an overseas Vietnamese in Arizona who has worked as marketing consultant for a company owned by his relative in Vietnam for over three years. Thanh’s wish became more fiery in early 2000 when there was news about the Vietnamese Prime Minister’s in-principle approval for overseas Vietnamese to buy houses in Vietnam and his instruction for concerned authorities to draft guidelines for this policy. However, his wish still remains a dream due to untangled legal obstructions and he continues to wait but with less eagerness.
Encouraging news.
At a meeting in HCM City in early 2000, Prime Minister Phan Van Khai said the Government would possibly consider permission for overseas Vietnamese to buy houses in Vietnam and granting certificates for ownership of the houses and land associated with them. The idea was seen as one of the positive measures to promote economic development in Vietnam.
According to the real estate centers in HCM City, since the news on permission for overseas Vietnamese to buy houses in Vietnam came out, the centers have received many phone calls or visits of overseas Vietnamese in America, Australia, Canada and other countries to ask for information about house sales. The Togi Real Estate Center receives 20-30 phone calls or e-mail letters daily. Meanwhile, the real estate website of Nha Dat receives hundreds of hits per day.
According to a Vietnamese American construction engineer engaged in the real estate business in Vietnam, about one million Vietnamese in North America eagerly want to own a house in Vietnam to have a place to stay when they return home for a visit or work. The demand is increasing as more and more overseas Vietnamese retirees want to repatriate. Also, many overseas Vietnamese want to help their relatives back home upgrade houses but they fear the money they send home may not be used up to their expectation. As they are not yet allowed to own houses in Vietnam, overseas Vietnamese buy houses under their relatives’ names but this practice is not favored any more due to the risk of possible disputes. The engineer says that if the policy on house sale to overseas Vietnamese is approved, it will address the eager demand of many.

A potential market.

Overseas Vietnamese house ownership demand could be a huge market for the construction and other industries. According to the general director of Saigon Real Estate Corporation, unofficial statistics show that one out of every 20 overseas Vietnamese doing business in Vietnam buys a house through his or her relatives. Foreign real estate companies exploring the local market forecast that around US$2 billion will be invested in the real estate business annually once the policy on house sale to overseas Vietnamese gets through. The move will be a strong measure to kick off the domestic economy as it will help create jobs for the construction industry and other businesses such as production of construction materials, interior decoration, household appliances, construction design and real estate brokerage.
Officials from concerned authorities, however, say it is necessary to distinguish two categories of overseas Vietnamese house buyers to apply appropriate taxation. Those who want to buy houses for themselves or their relatives and those who are engaged in real estate trading.

Prudent steps.

In May last year, the Ministry of Construction submitted to the Government a draft decree on a pilot policy to permit house ownership by overseas Vietnamese in HCM City and Hanoi. The policy is expected to be implemented in two years. However, some authorities concerned say the policy is against Article 80 of the Land Law. According to Nguyen Khai, director of the legislation department of the General Department of Land Administration, to solve this problem, the Government has assigned the department to draft amendments to the Land Law in the spirit that overseas Vietnamese may have full house ownership like their home fellows. Another problem that should be clarified is whether there is distinction between overseas Vietnamese who still retain Vietnamese nationality and those who do not. If such distinction exists, how it will affect the house purchase and ownership.
Pending amendment to the Land Law, on August 24, 2000, the Government Office released a note saying that the Prime Minister had approved in principle house purchase or sale for overseas Vietnamese doing long-term business legally in Vietnam. For the immediate future, HCM City is allowed to implement this policy on a pilot basis but it must prevent real estate speculation that may cause turmoil in the market. To clarify this idea, Bui Xuan Son, director of the General Department of land Administration, recently told the press that the board for drafting amendments to the Land Law had proposed that overseas Vietnamese returning home for relaxation or visit should be allowed to buy and own houses like counterparts investing in Vietnam. However, considering that this demand was not so large and that Vietnam was focusing its efforts on economic development, the board proposed that house purchase and ownership should be restricted to overseas Vietnamese investing in Vietnam only and this privilege could be expanded to other categories later.
If this view remains unchanged, Thanh and other overseas Vietnamese who do not invest directly in Vietnam still have to wait for their dream of house purchase and ownership to come true and domestic businesses still long for overseas Vietnamese investment in real estate. However, pending the approval of the policy to allow house sale to overseas Vietnamese, it is doubtful whether Thanh could afford a house in Vietnam any more of he could buy one elsewhere because not every one can afford several houses or have enough time to wait for a new policy.

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