Vo Huynh Tuan Kiet, marketing head of real estate management firm CBRE’s housing projects division, also said at a recent forum that the reason for the price surge is dwindling land supply in central business districts, leading to higher investment costs in luxury projects.

Limited supply of luxury apartments combined with rising material costs have pushed prices of this segment by 10-13 percent annually in the last three years. This growth rate is twice that of the middle and low segments, he said.

Le Hoang Chau, chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Real Estate Association, said that prices have gone up to VND300 million ($12,970) per square meter for some projects in District 1.

Chau added that reason for the big price tag is that HCMC authorities have been limiting new projects in District 1 and 3 since last year, leading to lower supply in the area.

HoREA data shows that the number of completed housing units in the first nine months of this year fell by 53 percent year-on-year to 12,453.

Chau said that the surging price of luxury apartments has led to increments in prices of non-central business districts and even city suburbs.