Vietnam’s apartment market has cooled sharply following a period of rapid price growth: developers are facing a decline in transactions, buyer caution, and the need to stimulate sales.
According to local media reports, demand for apartments has dropped significantly amid high interest rates, inflationary pressures, and general geopolitical instability. Vietnam’s Ministry of Construction has also recorded a decline in transaction volumes nationwide, confirming the market’s shift from a phase of frenzied growth to more selective demand.
However, the market’s problem is not limited to a decline in buyer interest. An imbalance in supply persists in Vietnam: in the largest cities, primarily Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, there remains a shortage of affordable housing, while a significant portion of new projects falls into the higher-priced segment. Vietnam Investment Review notes that in the first quarter of 2026, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City continued to face a gap between supply and demand due to a shortage of affordable apartments.
The most pressing issue remains housing costs. In Hanoi, prices for new apartments continued to rise in the first quarter of 2026, reaching an average of approximately 128 million dong per square meter, while the secondary market has already begun to show signs of a price correction. Developers attribute the price increases to rising costs of construction materials, financing, and land.
In Ho Chi Minh City, the trend is different: after prices rose in 2025, the market began to cool, and in some areas, prices fell by 1–7%, which partially stimulated demand.
The Vietnamese government is trying to curb market overheating and expand the supply of affordable housing. Earlier, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh called for accelerating housing construction, simplifying administrative procedures, and developing social housing, as rising prices have made real estate purchases unaffordable for many families.
Additional pressure on the market is being created by the government’s plans to curb speculative demand. In January 2026, Reuters reported that Vietnam was preparing tax measures against speculation in the real estate market, where in 2025 apartment prices rose by 20–30% and land prices by 20–25%.
Thus, the Vietnamese apartment market is entering a more complex phase: prices remain high, there is a shortage of affordable supply, but demand is no longer ready to automatically absorb new properties at any price. For developers, this means the need to revise pricing policies, offer installment plans, discounts, and more realistic purchase terms. For buyers, it presents an opportunity for stronger bargaining positions, especially in the secondary market and in areas where supply is growing faster than demand.
In April 2026, foreign citizens purchased 1,516 residential properties in Turkey, which is 1.1% less than in the same month last year, according to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat).
Foreign buyers accounted for 1.2% of total housing sales in Turkey. Meanwhile, the country’s overall housing market grew in April: according to TÜİK, 126,808 homes and apartments were sold in Turkey, a 2.6% increase compared to April 2025. From January to April 2026, total housing sales amounted to 476,204 units, an increase of 0.5% year-over-year.
Against this backdrop, foreign demand remains weaker than the domestic market. In the first four months of 2026, foreigners purchased 5,681 properties in Turkey, which is 11.6% less than in January–April 2025. Russian citizens remained the largest foreign buyers of Turkish real estate in April. They purchased 263 properties, which is nearly 15% more than in March. However, on an annual basis, their demand is still lower: in April 2025, Russian citizens purchased 276 properties.
Chinese citizens took second place among foreign buyers in April with 110 transactions, while Iranian citizens took third with 100 transactions. These three countries made up the official top three largest buyers according to TÜİK data.
The demand structure reflects a shift in the foreign segment. Russian buyers remain in first place, but their activity is already significantly lower than the peaks of 2022–2023, when demand was fueled by relocation, sanctions, currency risks, and interest in obtaining residency permits through real estate.
At the same time, buyers from Asia, primarily China, are becoming more prominent in the statistics, which may reflect broader investment interest in the Turkish market.
Ukrainian citizens did not rank among the top three largest foreign buyers in April 2026, so their specific numbers are not listed in the TÜİK brief release. For comparison, in April 2025, Ukrainians ranked third among foreign buyers and purchased 120 residential properties in Turkey.
In 2025, Ukrainians remained one of the most significant groups of foreign buyers of Turkish real estate. At the end of the year, citizens of Russia, Iran, and Ukraine were named among the three largest groups of home buyers in Turkey.
For Ukrainian buyers, Turkey remains an important real estate market for residential purposes, relocation, rental, and investment. However, the overall decline in foreign buyer activity indicates that the factors driving demand in previous years—residence permits, citizenship by investment, currency hedging, and relocation demand—no longer have the same impact.
In Turkey’s domestic market in April, activity was driven primarily by local buyers. Sales of new homes rose by 9.6% to 40,306 units, while sales of existing homes fell slightly—by 0.3%—to 86,502 units.
Thus, the Turkish real estate market showed two distinct trends in April: domestic sales are growing, while foreign demand continues to decline. Russians remain the largest group of foreign buyers, but their activity no longer appears frenzied. Ukrainians, who were previously among the leaders, did not make it into the top 3 in April 2026, which may indicate more cautious buyer behavior or a shift in demand toward other markets.
In Kyiv’s primary housing market in 2026, apartments with European-style layouts have effectively become the new standard of demand. According to an analytical study by the development company Intergal-Bud, their share of the demand structure is 60–70% depending on the segment, and in certain comfort+ and business-class projects, it already exceeds 75%.
As the company notes, the trend, which began as early as 2022, became firmly established in 2025–2026. While the share of demand for apartments with European-style layouts was about 38% in 2022 and 52% in 2024, it exceeded 60% in 2025 and continued to grow in the first quarter of 2026.
Changes to the “єОселя” state program, which took effect in February 2026, served as an additional growth factor. The new area standards stipulate 52.5 square meters for a family of 1–2 people plus 21 square meters for each additional family member, while the maximum housing area eligible under the program is significantly limited. If an apartment exceeds the established standard by more than 10%, the buyer effectively loses the opportunity to take advantage of preferential financing or is forced to cover the significant difference in cost on their own.
“Classic layouts with long hallways, large unproductive areas, and small, isolated kitchens are becoming economically unviable. Today, buyers value not the number of square meters, but the lifestyle the apartment offers. A spacious kitchen-living room, separate bedrooms, a minimum of hallways, and thoughtful zoning are no longer just a bonus but a basic requirement. “This is particularly noticeable among families who are buying a home to live in themselves, rather than as an investment,” the study quotes Elena Ryzhova, Commercial Director of Intergal-Bud.
According to the company’s data, among the largest category of first-time homebuyers—people under 40—one in two chooses one- or two-bedroom apartments with open-plan layouts ranging from 38 to 60 square meters. The primary motivation is purchasing a home for personal residence. Buyers over 40 are more likely to choose two-bedroom or ergonomically designed three-bedroom apartments ranging from 65 to 85 square meters, where privacy, separate functional zones, and comfort for the whole family remain key factors.
Intergal-Bud estimates that, for the same floor area, a European-style layout provides 15–20% more usable space compared to traditional layouts, and the space efficiency ratio exceeds 85% versus 65–70% in older housing stock. This also means lower costs for repairs, heating, and maintenance.
At the same time, supply is not yet keeping up with demand. According to the company’s analysts, only one in seven apartments in new buildings fully meets the criteria for a true Euro-style layout—a spacious kitchen-living room, separate bedrooms, no “dead” hallways, and logical functional zoning.
The company believes that apartments with excess square footage and outdated layouts have already fallen out of active demand, while compact and functional European-style layouts continue to sell quickly even in challenging market conditions.
According to Intergal-Bud’s estimates, in 2026–2027 the market may face a shortage of high-quality finished housing specifically in the segment of functional comfort-class apartments, which best align with the new demand structure. The company cites the updated terms of the “єОселя” program, the limited number of new projects, rising construction costs, and accumulated pent-up demand as the main market drivers.
“Intergal-Bud” is one of Ukraine’s largest real estate development companies, operating in the residential real estate market since 2003. The company is implementing projects in Kyiv, Lviv, Chernivtsi, Zhytomyr, Rivne, Uzhhorod, and other cities. The developer’s portfolio includes dozens of residential complexes, and its main focus remains on the construction of comfort-, comfort+, and business-class housing.
According to Serbian Economist, more than 160,000 apartments in Montenegro are not used for permanent residence: according to the 2023 census, there were 392,909 residential units in the country, of which 89,083 were used seasonally, and 71,204 were listed as temporarily vacant or abandoned. Thus, the total volume of such housing exceeds 160,000 units.
The Montenegro Tenants’ Association pointed out this imbalance. The organization stated that with such a large volume of vacant and seasonal housing stock, tens of thousands of families remain in precarious rental situations, often without formal contracts or legal protection. The association also warned of further increases in rent and real estate prices as long as a large “gray area” persists in the market.
For Montenegro’s economy, this means that the housing market is increasingly moving away from serving permanent residents and is increasingly catering to seasonal demand, tourism, and investment-based real estate models.
This problem is compounded by the continuing influx of foreigners. According to data previously cited by the Montenegrin Ministry of the Interior, as of September 10, 2025, there were 100,867 foreign citizens residing in the country, including 71,250 with temporary residence and 29,617 with permanent residence.
Among temporary residents, the largest groups were citizens of Serbia—about 24,538 people, Russia—21,153, and Turkey—13,396.
Specifically regarding the labor market in 2025, Montenegro issued 40,567 work and residence permits to foreigners from 107 countries. The largest group here was Turkish citizens—10,346 permits—followed by citizens of Serbia—8,148—and Russia—7,429. Other notable groups included citizens of Azerbaijan, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Kosovo.
Ukrainians remain one of the largest foreign groups in the country, although their status is partially based on temporary protection rather than a standard residence permit. According to the Montenegrin government, temporary protection for individuals from Ukraine has been extended until March 4, 2027. Earlier reports citing the Montenegrin Ministry of the Interior indicated that as of June 1, 2024, 5,000 Ukrainian citizens were under temporary protection.
In January–June 2025, foreigners purchased 71,155 homes in Spain, which is 2% more than a year earlier; with their transactions accounting for 19.3% of all home sales, according to the Spanish Notary Council. The British lead the way with 5,731 transactions, followed by Morocco with 5,654 and Germany with 4,756, according to notaries.
Among the nationalities that showed historic highs was Ukraine: in the first half of the year, 2,165 home purchases by Ukrainian citizens were registered, which was a record for the series of observations. Citizens of the US, Portugal, Italy, Morocco, Colombia, and the Netherlands also set new records.
According to notarial statistics, the main concentration of transactions with foreigners is recorded in the coastal provinces and islands—Alicante, the Balearic Islands, Malaga, and Santa Cruz de Tenerife. The market continues to show price differences: American buyers paid an average of €3,465 per square meter, the highest among foreigners; Ukrainians paid around €1,832 per square meter, and Moroccans paid €747 per square meter.
According to notaries and the regional press, purchases by Russians fell by 17.4% and remain below pre-crisis levels; they did not feature among the top nationalities in terms of the number of transactions.
Apartment prices in Serbia in the second quarter of 2025 were 5.78% higher than a year earlier; compared to the first quarter, the increase was 1.36%, according to the statistics agency. In the old housing stock, annual growth reached 5.89%, and in new buildings, 5.57%.
According to Eurostat data for the same period, the average growth in housing prices in the EU was 5.4% year-on-year, with significant variations: from a decline of 1.33% in Finland to growth of 17.23% in Portugal, 15.51% in Bulgaria, and 15.12% in Hungary.
The main trends in the real estate market in Serbia at the moment are as follows:
1) The balance of demand is shifting in favor of fully finished apartments and energy-efficient new buildings in large agglomerations, primarily in Belgrade and Novi Sad.
2) The price gap between new buildings and secondary housing remains significant, but the rates of increase are similar — 5.57% versus 5.89% year-on-year, indicating broad demand support for both segments.
3) The external background is neutral-positive: Serbian dynamics are close to the European average, but without the overheating characteristic of a number of EU markets.
Vera Yegorova-Tolsta, director of the Vidovstan real estate agency (Belgrade), commented on the market situation for Serbian Economist:
“We see sustained interest in well-located properties with clear operating economics — these are new business-class buildings and liquid secondary properties with reasonable utility costs. Buyers have become more careful in comparing options in terms of energy efficiency and management infrastructure, which supports quality projects even at a higher price per square meter. In Belgrade, offers that meet these criteria continue to sell quickly, thanks to local demand and buyers moving from other cities.”
Given the current trajectory of interest rates and household incomes, the baseline scenario is moderate price growth within the limits of inflation plus a premium for location and energy efficiency.
Risk factors for prices include a slowdown in mortgage lending and rising developer costs; support factors include limited supply in prime locations and a moderate influx of internal migrants to the Belgrade agglomeration.
