1.Vietnam in ‘Golden Period’ for Housing and Resorts

Many real estate developers in recent years have been running a race to provide products that serve tourism, an achievement that has helped attract 10 million foreign travelers to Vietnam.

A recent report from Forbes showed that Vietnam is now in the golden period in the demand for houses and resorts, while HCMC has been recognized as the second-most attractive city in Asia Pacific that is worth investing in.
More than 71 percent of surveyed investors said they would buy apartments in Vietnam if they had opportunities.
Resort real estate is also believed to have great potential for development in the time to come, as Vietnam’s tourism is witnessing rapid growth. 

Tourism makes up 13.9 percent of GDP in Vietnam, higher than 8.2 percent in the US. The industry is estimated to create 2.25 million jobs, or 4 percent of the labor force.
2016 was a bustling year for the resort real estate market (resorts and condotels). The reports by some market analysis firms showed that about 3,000 resort villas and 15,000 condotels of the projects located from Da Nang City in the central region to Phu QUoc Island in the south were launched into the market.
The sales of these products were relatively good, with 50 percent of resort villas and 70 percent of condotels sold. 
The reports all said that foreign investors have high interest in the real estate projects in the areas with high potential for resort tourism. A lot of Japanese and Singaporean investors have been expanding their business scale in large cities.
The market is believed to see stiffer competition in 2017, which will force real estate developers to adjust the sale prices and offer more flexible policies to attract buyers. 
In the immediate time, resort real estate will continue to develop in cities and provinces with great tourism potential such as Phu Quoc, Nha Trang, Vung Tau, Phan Thiet and Da Nang.
According to Pham Lam, CEO of DKRA, big supplies will be seen in Nha Trang and Phu Quoc. However, he thinks Phu Quoc is still not that attractive because of poor public and leisure facilities, though the natural landscapes are beautiful. Most of the real estate developers there are Vietnamese.
In Nha Trang City, the resort real estate sector witnessed good liquidity in 2016, especially condotels. However, Lam noted that most of the travelers to Nha Trang were from China.
Some people think that the hotel market in Phu Quoc, the beautiful island in the south of Vietnam, has become saturated with the appearance of a series of 5-star hotels in 2015. However, analysts say the hotel room supply will still increase sharply in 2017.

 

2.U.S. Ceramic Business: Domestic Production Fueled by Burgeoning Demand

Once upon a time, the U.S. ceramic business was dominated by foreign competition, which had a leg up on their local counterparts in production technology, styling and distribution channels. But that is no longer the case, as domestic companies bolster capacity and open more factories in their efforts to strengthen market share and take advantage of a fast-growing market.

“U.S.-based production has definitely been increasing the last few years because of a few factors,” said Rick Church, executive director, Ceramic Tile Distributors Association (CTDA). “One is increased demand. Two, and more significantly, is because of new plants being developed and coming online. Most of those new plants are owned by non-U.S.-based companies.”

For the seventh consecutive year, U.S. tile consumption was 9% to 10% growth, according to industry estimates. 2016 ceramic sales  reached approximately $2.9 billion and 2.4 billion square feet. Domestic producers played a big part in category growth, accounting for approximately one-third of U.S. tile sales.

“In recent years, there has been more attention on products that are made in the USA, largely due to the newfound interest that consumers want to know where their products are coming from and are embracing products that are made in the U.S.,” observed Gianni Mattioli, executive vice president, product and marketing, Dal-Tile. The irony behind the explosive growth in domestic production is that foreign tile producers, led by Italian companies, are reportedly investing millions of dollars to bolster production on U.S. soil. Italy, along with China, Mexico, Spain and Turkey, are considered the top exporters of tile to the U.S. “Certainly, the non-U.S.-based manufacturers see the opportunity to produce in the U.S. and serve, or partially serve, this market without having to export from Europe, etc.,” CTDA’s Church said. “Clearly, this makes it more efficient to bring the product to market.”

 Tile’s share of total U.S. flooring sales hovers around 15%, according to industry estimates, so there is plenty of room to grow. “Our ceramic tile selections have grown significantly in popularity over the past three to five years, and we don’t expect interest to wane in the coming year,” said Vance Hunsucker, national sales manager, ceramic tile/stone, Shaw Floors.

There is cause for optimism as economic trends used to gauge the health of the industry—such as the new housing market, consumer confidence, lending and unemployment rates—are favorable. Among the biggest is new single-family homes, which rose 11% in October from the previous month, reaching a nine-year high with a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 869,000 units, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and U.S. Census Bureau. Tile as a percentage of total flooring in new homes continues to rise, as it finds more applications in spaces such as patios, garages and basements.

“We have certainly seen a positive impact to sales throughout this past year,” Hunsucker said. “Forecasts indicate the segment is expected to grow.”

3.Media Voice

Latin America: the New Face of the Property Market

Ceramic World Web

The Latin American property market is undergoing a dramatic transformation. While the Brazilian market is suffering the worst crisis in its history, Argentina, Mexico and Colombia are instead taking centre stage.

American Bar Association

Colombia offers strong GDP growth and a rapidly expanding property market. And motivated investors take advantage of new opportunities in all real estate and continue to face challenges in entering Latin America.