The auction of 27 land plots in three wards including Phu Luong, Yen Nghia, and Duong Noi in Ha Dong District concluded at 11 pm on October 19 after 14 hours of bidding as per the announcement of the People's Committee of Hanoi's Ha Dong District.
The auction set a new record with the highest winning price reaching a staggering VND262 million per square meter, which is 8.2 times the initial asking price. Even the lowest winning bid for a land plot exceeded VND132 million per square meter.
Previously, Ha Dong District conducted an auction for 27 land plots situated in the aforementioned 3 wards. These land plots range in size from 48.7 per square meter to 72.1 per square meter and had starting prices between VND22.8 million (US$906) per square meter and VND32.2 million per square meter. A deposit of VND221.9 million to VND436.3 million per lot was required for participation. The intended land use for these plots is long-term urban residential development.
Prospective investors were given the opportunity to directly participate in multiple auction rounds, where bids were placed in ascending order. A uniform price increment of VND10 million per square meter was applied to all land plots and across all auction rounds.
The Land Fund Development Center of Quoc Oai District of Vietnam’s capital city has recently declared a temporary suspension of the auction for 39 land lots located in Yen Quan village, Tan Phu Commune. The auction was primarily scheduled to take place on October 25. This decision allows the local authorities to review, update, and modify the auction plan. Individuals who have already purchased documents and made advance payments will receive a refund.
The People's Committee of Quoc Oai District has announced the suspension of the aforementioned land auction due to requests from management agencies to review and correct the procedures related to land auctions. This requests were issued amid numerous locations where winning bids have significantly exceeded the initial prices.
Additionally, on October 13, the auction of 54 land lots in Quoc Oai District’s Yen Son commune achieved a record winning price of VND55 million per square meter, which is 4.4 times greater than the starting price.
According to Director Le Thanh Nam of the Hanoi Department of Natural Resources and Environment, a review of land auctions in many suburban districts of Hanoi in recent times has shown that existing shortcomings and limitations related to land auctions have been seen.
In particular, some auction participants engage in the auction process not out of necessity for housing, but rather for speculation purposes.
Additionally, there have been instances where bidders intentionally pay above market value to secure auction wins, only to later default on their payments and forfeit their deposits. These actions are often motivated by a desire to manipulate or inflate property prices, disrupting the real estate market. While such tactics have been observed, effective measures to prevent them remain incomplete.
The Hanoi People's Committee has recently instructed people's committees in districts to prepare a list of instances where individuals have paid above market prices to secure land auctions in certain areas of the city, yet have failed to remit the corresponding payments.
After that, this list will be made public on the information pages of the districts and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment. The Hanoi People's Committee also requested the Hanoi Police to consider professional measures to promptly detect violations in land auctions; at the same time, it is necessary to propose solutions to prevent or limit continued participation in auctions with cases of paying unusually high winning prices and then abandoning deposits.
