Vietnam’s GDP in Jan-Sep hits 8-year high at 6.98%
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Colliers International in Vietnam has just released their Vietnam Quarterly Knowledge Report Q3 2018. Over the first nine months of 2018, Vietnam’s economy continued to exhibit positive signs with a growth rate of 6.98% over the same period last year. This is the country’s strongest growth since Q1-Q3 2011.
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| Vietnam’s GDP in Jan-Sep hits 8-year high at 6.98% |
These growth results confirmed the timeliness and efficiency of the Government’s direction and administration of the economy to achieve the 2018 growth target. The Industrial and Services sectors continue to be the key drivers of the economy, growing by 8.61% and 6.78% y-o-y respectively.
The Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing sector also continued to grow by 3.46% over the same period in 2017. Overall, Vietnam is now tracking ahead of this year government’s target with the majority of sectors expected to steadily grow for the remainder of the year.
The real estate market, in particular, recorded positive growth in 2018 across all sectors. Take the office market in Ho Chi Minh City for an example, which continued to show improvements in average net asking rates for Grade A and Grade B. Rents for Grade A spaces are up 2.2% over the same period last year, sitting at USD47.5/sqm/month.
As tenants are seeking rent relief and quality building options, landlords have pushed rents upward. Landlords of Grade B buildings have also enjoyed the spill over effects from Grade A segment with 3.5% q-o-q increase in rents to USD23.4/sqm/month. However, while Grade A’s occupancy rate remained healthy at 94.3%, up 1ppt q-o-q, Grade B’s occupancy rate moderately dropped 1ppt compared to the previous quarter, standing at nearly 88%, due to the entry of new supply.
