Vietnam’s retail property market will see a boom in rentals this year while the office market will remain weak due to increased supply, real estate firms have forecast.
Service provider Savills has said office rents will continue its declining trend and the large amount of office space supply would ensure that the market still belongs to tenants, not landlords.
The Vietnam office of the world’s largest real-estate broker, CB Richard Ellis Group Inc., said Grade A asking rents have dropped by 50 percent from the peaks of mid 2008.
Demand for retail space is expected to rise as Vietnamese retail chains expand and more international brands arrive in the country, the firm said. It noted that large international retailers including Tesco and Wal-Mart still “remain on the sidelines.”