The biennial Global Real Estate Transparency Index report released this week by American real estate services firm Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) and real estate investment manager LaSalle Investment Management credits Vietnam’s improvement to regulatory reforms, enhanced market data and sustainability initiatives.

"Vietnam has made further progress on the regulatory front with government bodies tightening their oversight to ensure rules and regulations are being adhered to in areas such as land-use planning and lending standards," the report said.

"The country’s strong economic prospects have drawn significant interest from both occupiers and investors, and this has led to increased competition and service offerings from property management companies," it added.

The report measured 99 countries and territories around the world based on six sub-indices: investment performance; market fundamentals; listed vehicles; regulatory and legal indices; transaction processes; and sustainability.

The economies were ranked a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 the highest score. Vietnam scored an average of 3.38 and the country’s real estate market was included in the "Semi-Transparent" tier alongside the Philippines, India and Indonesia.

Despite the improvement, Vietnam's real estate transparency was lower than Southeast Asian peers Singapore (14th), Malaysia (29th), Thailand (33rd), Indonesia (40th) and the Philippines (44th).

The U.K. topped the list, followed by the U.S. and Australia.

The report also said transparency across Vietnam’s real estate markets has steadily improved in recent years with better access to market information, increased availability of market data, and improved enforcement of planning and land use regulations.

However, it has been facing legal troubles and sustainability issues, the report said.