On December 5-6, Head of Investments Giang Nguyen attended our portfolio company NLG’s "Nam Long Journey 2025" event in Ho Chi Minh City. The event brought together investors and industry partners, featuring the launch of four residential projects across different market segments. On-the-ground observations reinforced our view that Nam Long Group’s products remain well aligned with genuine homeowner demand, supported by both improved market conditions and more efficient project execution under the company’s new leadership.
Nam Long Group (NLG) is one of Vietnam’s leading real estate developers focused on affordable and mid-range housing, a segment supported by structural growth in urbanization and first-time home ownership. As of 28 November 2025, NLG accounted for 4.4% of the portfolio weight in the Kenno Vietnam Fund.
NLG offers condominiums from typically 40 square meters (sqm) for one-bedroom layouts to approximately 95 sqm for three-bedroom units. Within Ho Chi Minh City, a condo by NLG are priced between USD 100,000 and 250,000, or approximately USD 2,500 to 3,000 per sqm. Meanwhile, projects in areas adjacent to the city are priced between USD 30,000 and 100,000 – mostly within the affordable segment. As a reference, CBRE’s condominium price ranking for Vietnam defines units priced below USD 1,500 per sqm as affordable, those between USD 1,500 and 2,500 per sqm as mid-end, and those ranging from USD 2,500 to 5,000 per sqm as high-end.
We view price points offered by NLG as attractive, particularly given that most new supply in Ho Chi Minh City over the past two years has been concentrated in the high-end and luxury segments, including in some non-central areas. Elevated housing prices reflect higher development costs, driven by increased land taxes and costlier construction materials – a trend that we expect to persist in the coming years.
Our participation at the event aimed to assess market reception across newly launched condominium, townhouse, and villa projects, with a particular focus on understanding customer composition and real demand. We also reviewed NLG’s growth following operational changes over the past two years, and discussed management’s expectations for 2026 presales and market conditions.
The event highlighted the launches of four distinct property projects by NLG: Trellia Cove (condominium), Solaria Rise (condominium), Izumi Carania (townhouse), and Elyse Island (high-end villas). The breadth of these offerings, spanning beyond the affordable housing segment, also reflected the company's operational improvements under the leadership of the new CEO over the last 20 months.
High attendance of over 1,000 participants across the three days of the event, including many families with young children, reinforced NLG’s ability to attract genuine end-user buyers rather than speculative demand. The company remains focused on affordable housing paired with practical facilities and livable environments, targeting first-time homeowners.
In line with NLG's strategy, we project housing demand to rise alongside the expanding middle class and stable urbanization. Vietnam's working age, representing the core pool of first-time homebuyers, accounts for approximately 67% of the total population. In addition, the country’s urbanization rate reached 40% in 2024 and is targeted to increase to 45% in 2025 and exceed 50% by 2030 (according to the World Bank).
We also observe a supply-demand gap as well as an affordability gap in the current housing market. In Ho Chi Minh City, around 31,000 couples registered their first marriage in 2023 (according to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam). Meanwhile, new housing supply in 2023–2024 totaled only around 13,000 units. This number improves slightly in 2025 but still remains below 10,000 units, compared with historical levels of 20,000 units per year, and is largely concentrated in the high-end segment. These gaps create an opportunity for affordable housing developers like NLG.
At the same time, the average age of first marriage in Ho Chi Minh City has increased to 30 years. This also suggests underlying demand from young professionals who live with their parents longer to save up for a down payment on their first home.
In the first ten months of 2025, NLG recorded presales of VND 9.3 trillion (approximately USD 352 million), a substantial increase from VND 5.2 trillion (or USD 197 million) in 2024. Besides good product-market fit, these strong results been supported by faster project licensing, lower mortgage rates enabling affordability, and recovering homebuyer sentiment.
Notably, market reception has increased after a sector-wide slowdown in 2023-2025, where new launches in Ho Chi Minh City fell to its lowest level in a decade. This decline was primarily driven by prolonged legal bottlenecks since 2019–2020, as only a limited number of projects were able to complete the required approval procedures for market launch. The situation was further compounded by the crackdown on corporate bond practices in 2022, which largely involved real estate developers and constrained new project development.
The presales performance to date, combined with the company’s active launch schedule, provides a solid foundation for NLG’s earnings visibility over the next two to three years. Management expects 2026 presales to maintain the momentum seen in 2025, supported by continued demand for first-home purchases and a healthier financing environment.
Our conviction in Nam Long Group and the growth of Vietnam's domestic consumption remains strong. The recent visit reinforced our view that NLG is well positioned to capture the next upcycle in Vietnam’s property market, supported by genuine end-user demand, improving market conditions, and enhanced management execution. We will continue to monitor presales performance and market conditions as the company officially executes its launches next year.