In 2025, real estate capital flows no longer concentrate in only a few traditional markets. Instead, they disperse and shift, guided by infrastructure development and historic administrative boundary adjustments. Following the mergers, newly formed provinces and cities have increased advantages and potential, rapidly becoming “magnets” for investment—especially in areas planned as multi-center urban zones, industrial hubs, and tourism centers.

 

From the perspective of Mr. Nguyễn Quốc Anh, Deputy CEO of Batdongsan.com.vn, newly formed localities can be classified into six main groups, each reflecting distinct investment opportunities.

 

First, the group of multi-center metropolitan areas, represented by Hanoi and the new Ho Chi Minh City. After merging with Bình Dương and Bà Rịa–Vũng Tàu, the new Ho Chi Minh City has become a mega-city leading the nation in economic scale (24% of national GDP), land area (6,772 km² — larger than Shanghai and Bangkok), and population (13.5 million).

With a strong foundation built on an integrated industrial–logistics–distribution value chain, along with ambitious plans to complete 648 km of expressways by 2030 and 12 metro lines by 2035, the new Ho Chi Minh City sets a new benchmark for growth potential.

 

Second, the industrial-center group, prominently featuring the new Hai Phong City (merger of Hải Phòng and the former Hải Dương). This locality benefits from its prime position in the Northern Coastal Region, supported by the Hà Nội – Hải Phòng – Quảng Ninh Expressway, National Highway 5, rail connections, seaports, and Cát Bi Airport.

 

Another bright spot in the North is the new Bắc Ninh Province (merger of Bắc Ninh and the former Bắc Giang), which gains synergistic advantages from its position along the northern economic corridor linked to China and the Hải Phòng seaport network.

 

In the South, the new Đồng Nai Province (merger of Đồng Nai and the former Bình Phước) holds significant advantages as one of the country’s largest provinces in both area and population. Đồng Nai also enjoys a strategic gateway position connecting Ho Chi Minh City with the Central Highlands and Cambodia, while benefiting from proximity to Long Thành International Airport, seaports, expressways, and Ho Chi Minh City’s Ring Road 4.

 

Beyond administrative restructuring, accelerated industrialization further fuels real estate growth. For example, in the first half of 2025, land prices in Bắc Ninh rose 125%, apartment prices increased 39%, and the number of condominium projects multiplied nearly sixfold compared to 2016. In the former Bình Dương, land prices tripled, apartment prices increased 127%, and the number of condominium projects more than tripled (according to Batdongsan.com.vn).

 

Third, the tourism-center group, represented by the new Khánh Hòa Province (merger of Khánh Hòa and the former Ninh Thuận), home to Nha Trang Beach, Vĩnh Hy Bay, and Vân Phong Bay. The province is also oriented to become Vietnam’s renewable-energy hub with 57 wind and solar projects, as well as a regional logistics center anchored by Cam Ranh Airport and the Vân Phong Economic Zone.

 

Additionally, the new Đà Nẵng City (merger of Đà Nẵng and the former Quảng Nam) possesses two airports (Đà Nẵng and Chu Lai), four seaports (Đà Nẵng, Liên Chiểu, Chu Lai, Kỳ Hà), and multiple industrial parks such as Điện Nam – Điện Ngọc and Chu Lai.

 

The city benefits from the synergy of forming a four-pillar development model: tourism – industry – logistics – urban economy. In particular, the tourism sector is planned for comprehensive development, creating a chain of marine, resort, ecological, and cultural tourism, targeting 19.5 million visitors in 2026.

 

Historically, during the tourism boom from 2017–2019, Đà Nẵng real estate prices increased by approximately 47% annually. As tourism recovered from 2023–2025, prices continued to rise steadily by about 15% per year (Batdongsan.com.vn).

 

Fourth, the group of coastal economic provinces includes Quảng Ninh, the new Lâm Đồng Province (merger of Đắk Nông, Bình Thuận, Lâm Đồng), the new Vĩnh Long Province (merger of Bến Tre, Trà Vinh, Vĩnh Long), and the new Cà Mau Province (merger of Bạc Liêu and Cà Mau). Under Vietnam’s national blue-economy strategy, expanded administrative boundaries enable these provinces to better optimize marine resources and seaport logistics, creating a foundation for investment in resort real estate, port-urban zones, and processing-industry developments.

 

Fifth, the group of satellite urban areas, including standouts such as the new Hưng Yên Province (merger of Hưng Yên and the former Thái Bình), the new Thái Nguyên Province (merger of Thái Nguyên and the former Bắc Kạn), and the new Phú Thọ Province (merger of Phú Thọ, the former Vĩnh Phúc and Hòa Bình). These satellite cities help relieve population, infrastructure, and environmental pressures on Hanoi, while developing into regional industrial, educational, and healthcare centers. Their profit potential is driven by improved ring-road systems, expressway connectivity, and more affordable prices compared to urban cores.

In this group, the new Hưng Yên Province has become a 2025 “hotspot”.

 

Finally, the group of border provinces includes the new Tuyên Quang Province (merger of Tuyên Quang and the former Hà Giang), the new Lào Cai Province (merger of Lào Cai and the former Yên Bái), and the new An Giang Province (merger of An Giang and the former Kiên Giang).

 

Administrative restructuring—combined with infrastructure advantages and strategic development orientations—not only reshapes the economic map but also opens up vast opportunities for real estate markets. Newly merged localities quickly demonstrate strong investor appeal, turning these “new lands” into emerging hotspots with rising property values and a surge of project developments.

 

 

Alongside strategic development directions, local real estate markets exhibit diverse price movements, absorption rates, and capital behavior, producing a vibrant national market picture.

 

According to Mr. Nguyễn Đình Cương, Head of Market Research & Investment Promotion, Vietnam Association of Realtors (VARS), in 2025, all eight key economic regions entered a strong recovery cycle, creating new focal points on the real estate map.

In the Northern midland and mountainous region, the market responded sensitively to positive signals. For example, in early April 2025, property prices in the former Bắc Giang surged 20–30% but then quickly cooled, revealing the market’s susceptibility to news-driven short-term “waves”. Meanwhile, Lạng Sơn saw an unexpected increase in social-housing transactions, highlighting opportunities in affordable housing.

 

The Northern Coastal Region experienced dynamic activity from March to April 2025 before leveling off. Residential land enjoyed good liquidity with minimal price volatility. Hai Phong City stood out not only due to infrastructure momentum and administrative restructuring, but also because of major new project launches.

 

In Hanoi and surrounding provinces, prices of new projects continue to rise, yet absorption remains strong, pushing up secondary-market prices. The former Hà Nam maintained healthy transaction levels for both urban housing and land plots. By contrast, the former Hải Dương saw price declines as investors who anticipated gains from the administrative merger opted to cut losses and reallocate capital.

 

In the North Central Coast and South Central Coast regions, new supply—primarily high-end apartments—continued to be absorbed well, with prices increasing 15–20% year-on-year.

 

In the former Đà Nẵng, the social-housing segment faced difficulties due to limited land funds and developers’ inadequate capacity. Meanwhile, the former Quảng Nam has abundant coastal land but limited investor attention due to incomplete infrastructure.

 

In the former Khánh Hòa, transactions improved in central shophouses and urban districts. However, more than 50% of activity was speculative, pushing prices upward. Rental prices for retail spaces and apartments increased 10–20% thanks to robust tourism recovery.

 

In the Central Highlands, the former Đắk Lắk market saw slow recovery, though central-area property prices still rose 15–30% due to strong end-user demand and investor sentiment.

 

In Ho Chi Minh City and neighboring areas, supply surged thanks to numerous projects restarting after legal bottlenecks were removed. New launches were priced reasonably, resulting in strong absorption as demand had been pent-up for years.

 

In the Mekong Delta, supply also increased sharply—mainly in the former Long An and Cần Thơ. Social housing and urban land plots recorded healthy absorption. Newly formed administrative centers such as Cần Thơ, Cà Mau, and Rạch Giá (An Giang) experienced 10–15% price growth, reflecting investor expectations regarding administrative boundary reforms.

 

 

The emergence of high-potential new regions has triggered a redirection of investment capital. In 2025, traditional markets such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City face two major issues: soaring prices and scarce land supply. As a result, developers, brokers, and investors must look further for areas with more room for growth, reasonable pricing, and especially strong benefits from public investment.

 

The first wave of movement comes from developers—especially major corporations that often act as “compasses” guiding market trends toward new territories.

 

For example, Vingroup has made bold moves in the South with large-scale projects such as Vinhomes Green City in the former Long An and Vinhomes Green Paradise in Cần Giờ, Ho Chi Minh City. In Khánh Hòa, Vinhomes is part of the consortium developing the Cam Lâm New Urban Area—a project approved in March with over 10,356 ha and an investment scale of around USD 10 billion, scheduled from 2025 to 2037.

 

In the new An Giang (merger of An Giang and the former Kiên Giang), Vingroup has executed 10 projects totalling approximately VND 51,550 billion, including Vincom Rạch Giá, Vincom Long Xuyên, Bãi Dài Ecotourism Area, Vinpearl Safari Phú Quốc, and the Bãi Dài – Phú Quốc Tourism & Entertainment Complex.

 

Meanwhile, Sun Group—known for luxury resorts and ecological urban developments—is strengthening its presence in the South.

 

Recently, Sun Group won the bid for the Tây An Tây Urban Area (formerly in Bình Dương, now part of Ho Chi Minh City) with more than VND 20,000 billion in investment. Earlier, in April 2025, the founder of Ecopark also broke ground on the 220-ha Eco Retreat project in Tây Ninh.

 

Additionally, the southward migration trend among individual investors is confirmed in multiple research reports. According to Savills Vietnam, many projects launched in Ho Chi Minh City, Tây Ninh, and Đồng Nai recently saw over 20% of successful transactions coming from Northern investors—double previous years.

 

Batdongsan.com.vn data also shows Northern investors dominate searches for Ho Chi Minh City properties: Hanoi buyers account for 33%, Hải Phòng and Nam Định each 24%, and Quảng Ninh 10%. In the first half of the year, 75% of all searches for Ho Chi Minh City properties came from outside the city—61% from Northern investors alone.

 

Similarly, One Mount Group’s Market Research Center recorded that over 50% of Hanoi buyers are considering purchasing real estate in Ho Chi Minh City, and about 20% are ready to buy immediately—highlighting the strong “southward shift”.

 

According to the Vietnam Institute of Real Estate Studies (VIRES), this trend reflects demand for legally transparent, reasonably priced, high-potential investment products in southern markets.

 

Mr. Bùi Văn Doanh, Director of VIRES, noted that the trend is not new, but rather a continuation of a long-standing movement following major Northern developers like Vingroup, Sun Group, T&T Group, and Ecopark. As reputable developers expand southward, their loyal customer bases follow, creating a continuous investment cycle. Many Northern investors are now heading to Cam Ranh (Khánh Hòa) or Northeast Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Bình Dương)—areas still rich in growth potential.

 

Weather factors and investor psychology also contribute to southward movement, particularly after major storms and floods in the North, prompting many to seek safer and more stable environments in the South.

 

Dr. Nguyễn Văn Đính, Vice President of the Vietnam Real Estate Association and Chairman of VARS, added that southern markets are recovering in late 2025 as supply improves thanks to legal reforms, investor confidence grows, and interest rates remain low. However, challenges remain, and recovery is not yet fully sustainable.

 

“Many southern projects achieve 80–90% absorption within only 2–3 days of launch. Areas with reasonable pricing, good quality, and strong growth potential will continue attracting capital,” Dr. Đính stated.

 

Looking toward 2026, experts anticipate continued evolution in capital flows. Outcomes will depend on how well newly merged provinces leverage their planning advantages and regional-link infrastructure—especially expressways, seaports, and airport-connected logistics systems.

 

Satellite markets that surged in 2025 are expected to shift from speculation to medium- and long-term investment. Price growth may cool compared to 2025 but should remain stable, especially for end-user-driven products near established industrial zones. The 2026 real estate market will also demand greater selectivity, favoring projects with strong legal foundations and reputable developers.