According to data released by the Ministry of Natural Resource and Environment’s Department of Land Registration & Land Use Statistics only 299 non-Vietnamese nationals had bought homes in the country as of April 10, 2012.

Overpriced properties in Hanoi continue to be snubbed by foreigners

Only three non-Vietnamese have bought homes in Vietnam since the end of 2011.

Of the 299 non-Vietnamese nationals – the vast majority of whom are Vietnamese by ethnicity – 252 chose HCM City as an ideal location. Can Tho ranked second with 12 houses having been sold.

Some other provinces like Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Binh Duong, Haiphong, and Dong Thap, each has sold from between just one to six houses.

Hanoi fared miserably as a top choice among foreign and Vietnamese overseas property buyers. Despite real estate prices falling, only four properties were sold to non-Vietnamese buyers – three of whom were Vietnamese Overseas, with only one foreigner of Czech nationality buying an apartment.

All of them preferred the suburbs of Me Linh and Gia Lam District.

According to the department, among these 299 people, the majority were Vietnamese Overseas people who had settled abroad and had foreign nationality. The number of non-Vietnamese foreigners was a miniscule minority.

An official admitted that due to the cumbersome procedures it was undoubtedly the case that a lot more non-Vietnamese nationals in effect owned property, often via intermediaries such as Vietnamese relatives. Foreigners have proved reluctant to buy property due to their lack of land use right certification for home ownership, with current legislation forcing potential buyers to only buy apartments that are anecdotally regarded as overvalued, poorly located, badly designed and suffering from cheap construction.