According to the Ministry of Construction, by the second quarter of 2026, around 39,300 real estate products nationwide remained unsold. Of these, condominium inventory exceeded 12,800 units, up 22% from the previous quarter and nearly four times the level recorded in the same period of 2025.

Inside the “mountain” of inventory

Apartments were not the only segment seeing a rapid increase in unsold stock. More than 15,300 individual houses within residential projects remained unsold, up 46% quarter-on-quarter and 48% from a year earlier. The inventory of land plots stood at approximately 11,148 units, rising 25% in just three months.

By the second quarter of 2026, around 39,300 real estate products nationwide remained unsold. 

Notably, the increase in unsold inventory came as new supply recovered strongly. In the second quarter of 2026 alone, 131 commercial housing projects nationwide became eligible for sale, supplying more than 59,000 units, an increase of around 70% from the same period last year. Supply has risen, but absorption has failed to keep pace, making the gap between the volume of products brought to market and actual purchasing demand increasingly evident.

From the corporate perspective, inventory reported on balance sheets also remains high, although it is not entirely equivalent to the volume of unsold products. Given the nature of the real estate business, this item may include land-use rights, project development costs, properties under construction and completed properties awaiting sale.

Novaland’s inventory structure illustrates this distinction clearly. According to its consolidated financial statements for the first half of 2026, as of June 30 the company recorded approximately VND157.7 trillion in inventories. Most of this was tied up in properties under construction, including the value of land banks, construction costs and other expenses related to project development.

This means that a large inventory balance does not necessarily indicate that all of it consists of completed products that have failed to find buyers. A significant portion remains within the investment cycle and will only be converted as projects continue to be developed, products are brought to market and handed over, and the conditions for revenue recognition are met.

Pham Duc Toan, CEO of EZ Property, said a distinction needs to be made between products that are still being completed and have yet to be launched and those already brought to market but experiencing slow transactions. The latter group deserves closer attention because prolonged sales periods directly affect the speed of capital recovery and companies’ ability to balance cash flows.

The absolute size of inventories therefore does not fully reflect their quality. Assets tied up in projects that are progressing on schedule and have strong sales potential are fundamentally different from products that have been on the market for a prolonged period but continue to record low absorption.

Removing the bottleneck in capital turnover

Pressure from real estate inventories is becoming more apparent as new supply remains concentrated in higher-priced segments while absorption shows signs of slowing.

According to CBRE, Hanoi’s apartment market recorded sales of more than 5,800 units in the second quarter of 2026, equivalent to 68% of newly launched supply and significantly lower than during the 2024-2025 period. It was also the second consecutive quarter in which the market recorded no new supply priced below VND60 million per square metre, while products priced above VND120 million per square meter accounted for around 35% of new launches.

In Ho Chi Minh City, Cao Thi Thanh Huong, Deputy Director of Research & S2M at Savills Ho Chi Minh City, said around 80% of new apartment supply in the second quarter was priced above VND120 million per square metre, while the market-wide absorption rate reached only 32%, eight percentage points lower than in the previous quarter.

According to Huong, new supply is concentrated primarily in Grade A and Grade B projects, while buyers’ purchasing power has not kept pace with prevailing price levels. The mismatch between the product structure and purchasing demand is becoming one of the factors directly affecting market liquidity.

Tran Quang Trung, Business Development Director at OneHousing, said the average absorption rate at primary projects in the first half of 2026 was around 50-60%, down significantly from more than 80% in 2025. Buyers have become more cautious and selective, prioritising properties that meet genuine housing needs and offer suitable locations, connectivity, construction progress and financing policies.

According to Trung, developers need to calculate more carefully their product mix, pricing, and timing of launches. Projects that better match buyers’ actual needs and financial capacity will have an advantage in maintaining liquidity.

Regarding inventory management, Pham Duc Toan said developers need to clearly classify different types of inventory and adopt appropriate solutions for each group. For inventory tied up in projects still under development, companies need to accelerate implementation, complete legal procedures, and bring eligible products to market in order to shorten the capital recovery period.

For products that have already been launched but are selling slowly, developers need to reassess their product mix, pricing and sales policies so that they better reflect actual purchasing power. Payment schedules and financing solutions should also be designed in line with the affordability of different customer groups.

In the longer term, Toan said clearing inventory cannot rely solely on short-term sales programs. Project development plans need to be adjusted in line with demand, thereby improving absorption, shortening inventory turnover cycles, and helping developers recover capital.