Housing prices reflect not only physical supply and demand but also the broader distribution of opportunity within society. When credit and tax systems favor those who already own assets, inequality deepens, turning real estate into a repository of financial risk and a source of eroding public trust. Over the past three decades, Vietnam has witnessed some of the sharpest property price surges in Southeast Asia. Apartment prices in downtown Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi are now 20–30 times higher than the average annual income of a mid-skilled worker (World Bank, 2023). This ratio is three times that of Thailand and nearly four times that of South Korea during comparable periods. While labor productivity has not kept pace with asset price growth, land and housing have become symbols of success and safe havens for private capital. As a result, urban workers have been virtually priced out of home ownership, while the real estate market has evolved into a hub of speculation and capital hoarding rather than a foundation for stable living and productive economic growth. This is not merely a market phenomenon — it is a structural policy problem, where credit, tax, and planning instruments all align toward preserving asset […]
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