Nam said that 27,805 high rise apartments worth US$1.93 billion are currently available, accounting for 38.19% of the country's total housing stock.
There are also more than 2 million square metres of land plots on the market, Nam disclosed at a meeting in the capital on August 9 of the Central Steering Committee on Housing Policy and Real Estate Market.
He said that these figures were inadequate as several cities and provinces have not yet provided accurate figures but the data provided from 56 out of 63 cities and provinces nationwide.
Ho Chi Minh City and central Khanh Hoa province saw the biggest drop in available real estate.
The value of unsold real estate in HCM City at the end of June had fallen to roughly US$1.27 billion as city-based property developers sold an additional 1,877 apartments in the first half of the year.
In Hanoi, there were 9,651 apartments and houses available, up 3,862 units against December last year. The total value came to more than US$0.8 billion.
During the meeting on August 9, the State Bank of Vietnam also reported that total outstanding loans to the real estate industry in the first half of this year rose by 4% against December last year US$11.04 billion.
Of the total, lending to industrial and processing zones came to US$0.71 billion, up 0.1%. Loans to residential urban developers were US$2.22 billion while US$2.66 billion was allocated for purchasing houses and repairs.
However, the central bank noted that non-performing loans in the real estate sector stood at 6.53% at the end of June, against 5.39% in December last year.
As for the VND30 trillion (US$1.43 billion) housing stimulus package, the central bank said that it would pay more attention when carrying out the programme as it is difficult for individual borrowers to access the package with a preferential interest rate of 6% per year.
Source : VNA/VOV online