Addressing data bottlenecks to enhance regulation of the real estate market

The government’s strengthened regulation of the real estate market is a pressing requirement, but the process faces challenges because the market data infrastructure is not yet complete. The information system remains opaque and is not publicly standardized, limiting the ability of authorities to comprehensively reflect and analyze market developments.

The real estate market is closely linked to multiple sectors, including construction and finance–banking, as well as trade and services. As a result, the sector’s performance is important for overall economic growth. However, the market still has shortcomings in transparency and sustainable development, including an information database system that remains inconsistent and incomplete.

Real estate data gaps and market transparency concerns

According to the Vietnam Real Estate Brokers Association, the real estate market has long been in crisis, developing in a way that lacks transparency and sustainability. The association points to ongoing phenomena such as speculation, “hot money,” and price inflation, which have narrowed trading activity and largely confined it to insiders within a speculative circle.

The association says these conditions create difficulties not only for enterprises trying to access land for project deployment, but also for ordinary people seeking housing as affordability narrows.

Housing affordability pressures in 2025

Data from market surveys indicate that housing is increasingly out of reach for many people, particularly in large cities. In 2025, in Hanoi, the supply of new apartments reached the highest level in five years, but prices did not cool and continued to rise.

Specifically, the primary price average reached 102 million VND per m2, and products priced at 4 billion VND or more accounted for a large share. The association considers this trend as gradually establishing a new price level in the market.

Need for stronger state intervention, but limited by incomplete data

In this context, the Vietnam Real Estate Brokers Association says strengthening State intervention in the real estate market is an urgent task. However, achieving effective regulation is not simple because real estate market data are not yet fully complete or accurate, and the market information system remains largely opaque and not publicly transparent.

The association notes that the information currently available to competent authorities is not sufficient to reflect and analyze market developments comprehensively, which could affect the regulatory policies that State agencies implement.

Economist Nguyen Tri Hieu also argues that policies regulating the real estate market must be based on the market’s actual conditions. With blurred information and incomplete data, he says State authorities may find it difficult to issue appropriate regulation.

Expert views: transaction and capital-flow data are essential

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Dung, Chairman of Thien Khoi Group, said that while policy mechanisms are important for guiding real estate market regulation toward a healthy and sustainable direction, effective regulation depends most on having a complete and accurate data system.

He highlighted the need for data including transaction data, asset retention times, and capital flows. “Only by understanding these data can the State control and issue appropriate regulation policies,” Mr. Dung said.

Role of enterprises in building the national real estate database

Given data limitations and the urgent need for regulation, mobilizing additional resources to help build the market information system is described as a necessary path. The Vietnam Real Estate Brokers Association identifies distributed, consulting, and brokerage real estate enterprises as key stakeholders.

The association says these entities can become an important “link” in building and forming the market database, citing their flexibility and ability to adapt quickly to new technologies, along with their resources. As active market participants, they also provide input for the database.

From the perspective of real estate enterprises, Mr. Dung said that market data mainly reside with those engaged in brokerage and advisory activities because they have the closest contact with market conditions. He added that input from these entities is important for building an effective national real estate database.

Mr. Dung also suggested that the State empower entities that hold real estate transaction data to support the State in crafting reasonable regulatory policies. He said: “To complete the national real estate market database, of course, consulting and brokerage entities are the providers of information to the State management agencies, but the State management agency also needs to empower them. When empowered, they will be responsible for the truthfulness and transparency of information. From this, the State will have a basis to tax and measure real estate transactions accurately to formulate appropriate management and regulation policies.”