The HCM City housing market is recovering thanks to effective government policies like allowing foreigners and overseas Vietnamese to buy houses, an industry insider has said. Le Hoang Chau, Chairman of the HCM City Real Estate Association, said the new regulation that housing projects need to be guaranteed by banks would usher in huge changes. He hailed them as legal provisions that are totally consistent with the trend of international integration and which help build trust among consumers and secondary investors, leading to a sharp increase in property transactions. In the first six months there were around 7,050 successful transactions in the city, 2.8 times the number in the same period last year, while prices have risen by 3-5 percent. The small- and medium-sized segment priced at around 1 billion VND (46,728 USD) remained steady as always, but the luxury segment saw positive changes, with many projects getting under way or hitting the market. Chau said M&A activities are strong in the property sector and would help revive stalled projects. In HCM City 689 projects have been shelved while 85 others lost their licence. But admittedly there are also problems the industry has to tackle, especially in the social and low-income housing segments in which supply is inadequate. Also, the 30 trillion VND (1.41 billion USD) bank housing credit package has been disbursed too slowly. The association called on authorities to quickly issue detailed guidance, and with open and transparent provisions, for the amendments made to the Housing Law, Real Estate Business Law, Investment Law, and Business Law to create a favourable environment for market activities.-VNA