There is a new segment in the property market in and around Ho Chi Minh City: burial grounds.
There is a new segment in the property market in and around Ho Chi Minh City: burial grounds.
There are advertisements with offers of 15-20 percent profits, and in some areas even 100-120 percent, for investors buying a share of a cemetery, usually in places situated 20-40 km from the city.
They include the 50ha Sala Garden Cemetery in Long Thanh district of Dong Nai province, the 6ha Sai Gon – Thien Phuc Cemetery in Long An province’s Can Giuoc district, the 200ha Hoa Vien Cemetery in Binh Duong province’s Ben Cat district, and the 18ha Phuc An Vien Cemetery in HCM City’s District 9.
The prices families have to pay to get a piece of land in these cemeteries to bury their loved ones are high. For instance, a 4.5 square metre burial plot at Sai Gon - Thien Phuc costs 118 million VND – 186 million VND (5,200 - 8,260 USD), or 33.7 million VND per square metre.
A family burial site measuring 68-90sq.m at Thien Gia Phuc Cemetery costs 1.6-2.3 billion VND (82,500 USD).
The rates have been increasing by 15-20 percent a year, according to a report by Saigon Giai phong (Liberated Saigon) newspaper.
The ‘cemetery park’ model is popular with affluent families, who are willing to pay 2-3 billion VND (130,000 USD) for a burial site since the common belief is that dead people who get a nice burial site will shower their blessings on their descendants, Nguyen An Binh, an agent selling burial sites in HCM City, said.
Nguyen Van Khuan of Ben Luc district in Long An province, another burial site broker, said in the last five years people have been investing increasingly in cemetery parks.
Mai Thi Mo, a property broker in HCM City’s District 9, said it is difficult for investors to earn profits in the short term from cemeteries.
That is why developers promise profits of 100-120 percent in four or five years, she said.
“These are higher than the profits investors can earn from other asset classes.”
(Source:VNS/VNA)
