The stagnation of the market is expected to last until the end of the next year.

The survey, conducted by Vinaland training floors in early December, showed that the land price in the western and southern areas of HCM City has decreased by little.

Vinaland said that residential land and penthouse prices tend to see sharper decreases over normal apartments. The residential land in the Dong Thu Thiem area has been reduced by 7.7% in price, while the prices in 21^st Century, Phu My, were reduced by 5.3-6.7%.

Penthouses in An Hoa, An Cu, and the Blooming Park projects have lost 4.5-8.7% over the previous month, while the apartments in luxury projects like The Vista, Richard Hill, and Thao Dien River View have seen the prices down by VND 1-2 million per square metre over the course of November.

The survey by Sacomreal trading floors has also given the same result. Most of the penthouses, which once saw the prices skyrocket in 2007, like BMC Hung Long, Phu My, The Maison, and New Saigon, have seen the prices down by VND 1 million per square metre.

According to CBRE, a real estate consultancy firm, from November 2007 to November 2008, the prices of high grade apartments in HCM City have dropped by 52%.

For example, the prices of apartments in the Phu My Hung urban area (The Grand View project) have been reduced from US $2,400 per sq m to US $1,145, while the prices of Saigon Pearl from US $3,500 per sq m to US $2,500. The apartments at The Manor, which were traded at US $3,500 per sq m, are now being offered at US $2,400 per sq m. The apartments at Cantavil Hoan Cau and Hung Vuong Plaza have also lost US $900-$1,100 per sq m.

Dinh The Hien, an economist, said that the real estate market has been bogging down in recession, with the number of transactions down by 80-90% in comparison with the end of 2007, believing that the market will not be recovered shortly.

Hien said that he does not expect new changes in the real estate market from now to 2009, and that the market will only thaw no sooner than the end of 2010.

Hien does not agree with the viewpoint that the real estate prices have dropped to the bottom line and will not drop further. He said that the land and house prices, though having decreased by 60-70%, but have not been low enough to fit the majority of customers.

He said that the project land in districts 2, 7 and 9, and the South Saigon urban area, once was priced at VND 8 million per sq m in 2006. However, the prices were then pushed up to VND 16 million per sq m in mid-2007 and then to VND 30 million at the end of 2007. Hien said that the prices have decreased, but have not returned to the levels from 2006.