Following the administrative merger, Ho Chi Minh City has become the country’s largest megacity, with an unrivaled scale of population, economy and urban space. This not only opens the opportunity for a comprehensive restructuring of infrastructure, planning and governance models, but also creates room for a breakthrough in the real estate investment market.
Table of Contents
1. Driven by Scale and a Leading Economic Position
At the seminar “Ho Chi Minh City Megacity Real Estate: A Golden Opportunity for Hanoi Investors,” Dr. Cấn Văn Lực, Member of the Prime Minister’s Policy Advisory Council and Chief Economist of BIDV, said that Ho Chi Minh City holds rare advantages and opportunities to become a modern, multi-centric megacity of regional and international stature. He stated:
With an area of about 2% of the country and a population equal to 13.5% of the national total, Ho Chi Minh City is not only the largest urban center but also has a high level of education and a relatively even population distribution, conditions that favor balanced and sustainable development.
Ho Chi Minh City has long been regarded as the country’s economic locomotive, contributing as much as 23.8% of GDP and 22% of import-export turnover, attracting 24.2% of FDI and providing more than 33% of national budget revenue.
Beyond leading in economic scale, Ho Chi Minh City is a pioneer in piloting and implementing special policy mechanisms. Notable examples include Resolution 98/2023/QH15 on a dedicated development mechanism for the city, Resolution 222/2025/QH15 on building an international financial center in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang, and the strategic urban development orientation set by the Party and State leadership.
The city also benefits from a multi-sector, multi-field development model. With strengths in financial services, industry, logistics, high technology, tourism and the marine economy, Ho Chi Minh City is positioned as the country’s leading financial, industrial and technology center, aiming to enter the Top 100 global startup ecosystems.
“Combining scale, policy, economy, infrastructure and technology, Ho Chi Minh City is poised for a strong breakthrough to realize its vision of becoming a leading megacity, worthy of its role as a dynamic development core and growth engine for the whole country,” Dr. Cấn Văn Lực affirmed.
2. The Pull on Investment Capital: From North to South
These strong growth drivers explain why real estate trading floors and investors from the North, especially Hanoi, are increasingly heading south. According to Dr. Cấn Văn Lực, this shift in capital flows stems from three key reasons.
First, superior scale. After the merger, Ho Chi Minh City has a much larger population and area, nearly double those of Hanoi. This creates a markedly larger market in terms of both consumer demand and urban development.
Second, a diverse and dynamic real estate market structure. Ho Chi Minh City offers a full range of real estate segments, from residential and commercial to industrial, logistics and resort properties.
Third, higher and more genuine housing demand. Ho Chi Minh City is home to a large workforce, especially workers in industrial and export processing zones. This generates substantial demand for housing and accommodation, particularly in the social housing segment.
On the other hand, real estate prices in Hanoi have risen rapidly in recent years, even surpassing those in Ho Chi Minh City, which narrows room for future price appreciation. Meanwhile, many areas of Ho Chi Minh City, such as former Binh Duong and former Ba Ria - Vung Tau, still have growth potential thanks to large land reserves, well-coordinated infrastructure investment and increasingly clear real demand from residents and businesses.
These are foundational factors that reinforce Ho Chi Minh City’s role as the economic “locomotive” and strengthen its appeal to both domestic and foreign investment capital.
3. Investment Strategy in a Megacity Context
From an investment perspective, Dr. Cấn Văn Lực noted that the development of megacities, especially Ho Chi Minh City, is opening up major opportunities for both direct and indirect investors. However, to make the most of them, investors need a well-structured, selective strategy that can adapt flexibly to a volatile investment environment.
He offered five key recommendations for investors:
First, proactively research and keep up with planning and socioeconomic development plans for the area, especially new growth corridors, satellite urban areas and inter-regional infrastructure.
Second, clearly identify the opportunities and challenges of investing and doing business in a fast-growing city with many changing factors, such as Ho Chi Minh City.
Third, define investment goals and risk appetite. Investors need to know what they want: short-term profits or long-term strategic investment? Safety first, or higher risk in exchange for greater returns?
Fourth, choose a suitable investment approach: investing independently, partnering with local players, or going through advisory firms, investment funds or joint venture models.
Fifth, prepare financial resources and execution capacity thoroughly, so that projects can be pursued to completion, especially given intense competition and approval and operating processes that increasingly demand deep expertise.
It is clear that the change in Ho Chi Minh City’s administrative boundaries is not only an administrative and geographic turning point but also a major opportunity to reshape the city’s role as the nation’s economic engine. As capital flows reposition and the real estate market enters a new cycle, identifying the right opportunities and preparing a suitable investment strategy will be the key to success for investors looking south.