Investors quit real estate market despite recovery Though there are signs the real estate market is recovering, many investors are still leaving it quietly. This may become a growing tendency in 2015 and upcoming years.   A big player in the Vietnamese real estate market, the Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group caused a big surprise when it unexpectedly announced in August 2013 it would withdraw capital from real estate projects in Vietnam and focus on two business fields – agriculture and property projects overseas. Large investment funds have also left the playing field for many reasons. VinaCapital, for example, has withdrawn capital from real estate projects since 2013. Five projects were transferred in the year, while one was transferred in January 2014. Vietnam Property Fund Limited managed by Dragon Capital has successfully sold 4.2 million Hoang Anh Gia Lai shares. Meanwhile, Spinnaker GEMF Ltd, a big shareholder of Ninh Van Bay Tourism JSC sold 3.15 million Ninh Van Bay shares, or 5.21 percent of the company’s capital. Do Minh Duong, a renowned real estate expert, noted that though the real estate market is expected to warm up with a series of new policies, real estate investors have still decided to leave the market. They have to sell stocks to stop losses and restructure their portfolio, as they are not sure when the market will recover fully. The development of the Vietnamese real estate market heavily depends on capital borrowed from banks and contributions from investors. Analysts think the large corporations’ move of withdrawing capital would, to some extent, affect the domestic market. Tran Ngoc Thanh, general director of Dat Xanh Company, also noted that the big players’ withdrawal is bad news for the market. Thanh said the market has warmed up, but the inventory is still big and many real estate firms have to struggle to exist. However, he said it is too early to say that leaving the market will become a growing tendency in Vietnam. Every business has to make its own decision on whether to stay in or leave. “The real estate sector requires long term investments. Therefore, I think now is the right time for investment funds to inject money into the real estate market, which is expected to recover very soon,” he said. Duong agrees with Thanh, saying that the failure of one could be an opportunity for others to take over projects at reasonable prices. “Dai Quang Minh and Vingroup, the major players in the market, still pour money into real estate projects. One cannot say the Vietnamese real estate market is no longer attractive,” Duong said. DDDN