عالمی ریئل اسٹیٹ خبریں

Hanoi | ReNews International Desk News
Vietnam’s capital Hanoi is considering a major new riverfront development plan that includes a proposed 109 story tower along the Red River, positioning the project as a potential landmark within one of the city’s most ambitious urban transformation schemes.
City authorities are currently seeking public opinion on a revised zoning plan for the Red River corridor, with the proposed Era Tower emerging as the centerpiece of the redevelopment vision.
The zoning area stretches about 40 kilometres through the heart of Hanoi on a northwest-southeast axis, running from Hong Ha Bridge to Me So Bridge. It covers approximately 11,418 hectares across 16 riverside communes and wards.
Bounded by the dikes on both banks, the corridor is expected to accommodate a future population of between 800,000 and 1.2 million residents.
The development area is divided into three segments, marked by bridges. The central segment, stretching from Thang Long Bridge to Thanh Tri Bridge, covers around 4,548 hectares and is home to about 541,000 people. This section has been designated as the city’s “urban living room” and is expected to undergo the most intensive redevelopment.
Under the proposed plan, financial services, commerce and innovation activities would be concentrated around landmark buildings located along a new urban axis running from West Lake to the ancient citadel of Co Loa.
The plan identifies the 109 story Era Tower as the landmark and symbolic structure of that axis.
Renderings prepared by the Hanoi Construction Planning Institute place the tower on the right bank of the Red River, with West Lake serving as part of the broader visual setting.
However, the planning dossier does not specify the exact location of the tower, its intended use, its total scale or a timeline for construction. No height in metres has yet been disclosed.
Hanoi’s 100 year master plan names the Red River boulevard as one of nine major growth axes for the capital. The first phase of the project focuses on the stretch between Hong Ha Bridge and Me So Bridge.
A later phase would extend the corridor westward from Hong Ha Bridge and southward from Me So Bridge to the limits of planned urban expansion.
That extension would connect both riverbanks with southern growth centres, including Thuong Tin and Phu Xuyen, and link the area with the Van Giang Pho Hien Hung Yen urban chain through new river crossings on the ring roads.
City authorities say development along the two banks will proceed with maximum respect for the natural terrain, while preserving flood discharge space in line with approved flood control and dike management plans.
The dossier also makes clear that the flood corridor will not be narrowed and that no new dikes will be built inside the existing dike system.
Hanoi says the Red River flows for about 120 kilometres through the capital, making the study corridor roughly one third of the river’s urban course.
If approved and implemented, the project could significantly reshape Hanoi’s riverfront, combining large scale residential growth with commercial, financial and symbolic urban development.

A sustained recovery in the US housing market will depend heavily on mortgage rates easing, according to a survey of real estate agents who say high borrowing costs are discouraging both buyers and sellers.

The Real REMAX Group’s Agent Optimism Index, which measures agents’ 12-month outlook on a scale of 0 to 100, fell to 45.8 in September from 54.3 in August. The decline reflects growing concern that mortgage rates will remain too high to bring more buyers into the market. In the firm’s monthly survey, conducted from October 1 to 9 and released on October 30, 65% of 177 agents said 30-year mortgage rates would need to fall below 6% to meaningfully stimulate buyer demand. More than one-third, or 37%, said rates would need to drop below 5.5%.

High rates are already affecting housing activity. Two-thirds of respondents said buyers were pausing or delaying their home searches. Sellers are also holding back: 39% of agents reported that prospective sellers had postponed plans to list their homes.
Some sellers are responding to the slowdown by becoming more flexible on price and terms. Thirty-five per cent of agents said they had seen sellers reduce asking prices, while 34% reported sellers offering concessions to attract buyers.

The outlook for prices is also weakening. If mortgage rates remain around 7% next year, nearly 60% of survey respondents expect home prices to fall. About 33% anticipate a decline of more than 5%.
“Higher mortgage rates are putting renewed pressure on an already challenging housing market,” Real REMAX Group Chairman and CEO Tamir Poleg said in a statement accompanying the survey. Poleg said buyers had gained more negotiating power, but affordability remained a major barrier, prompting many to delay their searches. He added that a lasting recovery in housing activity would depend substantially on meaningful mortgage rate relief.

The survey’s findings echo Goldman Sachs’ outlook for the US housing market in 2027. The firm’s economists expect existing-home sales and new-home construction to decline. They forecast 3.9 million existing-home sales next year, alongside a modest 0.8% rise in home prices.

Goldman Sachs economists Ronnie Walker and David Mericle said that many homeowners who refinanced at low rates in 2020 and 2021 now face a significant financial cost if they move while current mortgage rates remain high.