Preservation plan makes houses in Hanoi’s Old Quarter unmarketable Many households in the Old Quarter of Hanoi are finding it hard to sell their houses after a preservation plan was approved.   Many houses in Old Quarter offered for sale but a few interested Previously many people who lived in the outskirts had great demand to own a French-designed old and small tenement house in streets like Hang Bo, Hang Bac, Lan Ong and Hang Thiec. However, at the time many homeowners didn't really want to sell their houses. Now, while many want to sell their houses, buyers have changed their minds as the preservation plan suggested that around 70% of population in the Old Quarter would have to move to other living places in the next eight years. Recently, prices of houses in the Old Quarter have decreased by as much as 60% while demand drops. Phung Van Hung, an official from a real estate floor in Hanoi’s Nguyen Khoai Street said, “Over the past two years, dozens of households in the Old Quarter have offered to sell their houses, only one transaction was conducted with selling price reduced by 30% from initial offer.” Meanwhile, owners of large private houses in the areas still offer exaggerated prices of up to tens of billions VND. They, however, find it hard to sell even though they are willing to pay large commissions to realtors. The situation is contrary to the trend of several years ago when a lot of companies and people with major sources of capital wanted to buy large houses in the Old Quarter for the construction of offices or hotels. An official from Han Kiem District’s land management office said, “People should not try to sell their houses in the Old Quarter, but be ready to move and hand over their old houses to relevant authorities in good time.”  Source: VnEconomy