Beginning July 1, 2015, Foreigners holding valid visa as well as foreign companies will now be allowed to acquire residential properties in Vietnam. This includes houses, apartments, condominiums, villas and townhouses. Though there is no limit on the exact number of dwelling units a foreigner can buy, a maximum ownership of 30 percent in any apartment building/condominium complex or 250 houses in a ward. Before this law is to take place, an eligible foreigner is only allowed to buy one condominium in Vietnam.

In contrast to the previous stipulation where purchased properties are solely for owner occupancy, properties now owned by foreigners can be sub-leased, traded, inherited and collateralized. Under the county’s constitution, all land belongs to the state. Land-lease certificates good for a maximum of 50 years are granted in real-estate purchases. Though this remains unchanged, foreign individuals married to Vietnamese citizens are entitled to freehold tenure. This new law is the amended version of the existing Housing Law, now friendlier to non-Vietnamese.

It was on November 25^th of the previous year when Vietnam’s National Assembly passed the amended Housing Law addressing issues on land ownership, including regulations on foreign ownership of properties in the country. The move was done in order to boost an ailing real-estate market, accelerate economic growth to 5.8 percent this year and pay up bad debts in the financial system. Vietnamese property inventories dropped about 13 percent to 82.3 trillion dong ($3.85 billion) as of Aug. 20 of 2014 with around 17,000 units of unsold apartments nationwide.

This also makes the country more attractive to Vietnam-based expats that want to buy properties in Vietnam. Though this solution does not guarantee Vietnam’s real estate market to bounce back in a short time, the favorable conditions it creates will draw more foreign investment which will have long-term benefits to the economy.