Is the serviced-apartment net return of 4–6% credible?

Credible only with conditions. Its sole source is one agency's (Happy Land Realty's) sales guide; there is no institutional net-return series. This site recomputed it from Savills' achieved rents (Ho Chi Minh City VND 512,000/sq m/month, occupancy 79%): after the occupancy discount, the gross yield is about 4.6% (at primary prices) to 9.2% (at a USD 2,000/sq m entry); deduct operating costs of about 35% and rental tax of 10%, and the net is about 2.5%–5.0%. So 4–6% holds only at a low entry price; buy at the primary average and you get about 2.5%.

Why does the entry price decide everything?

Because rent is set per square metre and has nothing to do with what you paid. On Savills' basis, achieved serviced-apartment rent in Ho Chi Minh City is about VND 512,000/sq m/month: at a purchase price of USD 3,950/sq m (the primary average) the nominal gross yield is only about 5.9%; at USD 2,000/sq m it is about 11.6%. Same flat, same rent — the entry price differs by a factor of two and the net return differs by a factor of two. Most of this opportunity's profit or loss is decided at the moment of purchase.

Can foreigners buy and operate?

Buying: yes, but an apartment is a 50-year use right (renewable once), each building has a 30% foreigner quota cap, and resale is only to foreigners (relaxed after 2023) or to Vietnamese buyers (at a discount). Operating: from 25 Apr 2026, Ho Chi Minh City permits licensed short-stay operation inside residential apartments (you must register as an accommodation operator and meet tourism, tax, public-order and guest-declaration requirements). Hanoi still follows the 2023 Housing Law and building management-committee rules. Nominee arrangements are void and carry confiscation risk — do not use them.

Is short-stay rental in Ho Chi Minh City banned or not?

Three steps: Article 3.8 of the 2023 Housing Law prohibits non-residential use of apartments (effective 1 Aug 2024); Ho Chi Minh City's Decision 26/2025 (27 Feb 2025) accordingly banned by-the-day/by-the-hour short stays in pure residential apartments, affecting about 8,700–9,000 Airbnb listings; Decision 19/2026 (effective 25 Apr 2026) switched to licensed permission — register as an accommodation operator, comply with tax and declarations, and you may operate. Purpose-built branded serviced-apartment buildings were never in the banned category; both the ban and the permission target short stays inside ordinary residential apartments.

How much more does serviced operation earn than plain long-let?

More gross, not much more net. Furnished long-let nets about 2.9–4.2% (Realtique basis, including its workings); serviced operation, in this site's workings at a low entry price, nets about 4–5% — about 1–2 percentage points more than long-let, at the cost of operating intensity, vacancy (serviced occupancy about 79–82% versus single-digit vacancy for long-let) and rule risk. Against Nov 2026 term deposits (about 5.9–7.0%), neither has the edge — the serviced format's excess return has to come from buying cheap and operating well; it needs both.

Opportunity rank #8 (cash-flow board) · Vietnam

Vietnam Serviced / Mini Apartments (Operated)

Our take: Do, with conditions

4–6% Net return · Operator estimate · Data as of: 2026-11-08

Composite-board score: 4.4 · Where it is strong: Net cash flow, Tax friendliness · methodology

Data updated: 2026-11-08

Overall rank #8. The original verdict on Vietnamese serviced apartments was "do", with gross 7–10% and net 4–6% (an agency guide's basis). This round of research took the cost stack apart item by item and recomputed it, and the conclusion needs one decisive precondition: net 4–6% holds only at a low entry price. On Savills' achieved rents (Ho Chi Minh City about VND 512,000/sq m/month, occupancy about 79%), buying at the primary average (about USD 3,950/sq m) nets only about 2.5–3.5%, while buying second-hand at USD 2,000–2,500/sq m gets back to about 4–5%. And the listed rate on 12-month term deposits in Nov 2026 has risen to about 5.9–7.0%, above the 5.4% benchmark used at the time. The rule side has actually improved: Ho Chi Minh City short stays went from a Feb 2025 ban to licensed permission in Apr 2026. The re-checked verdict is "do, with conditions", and it recognises only one way of doing it: serviced buildings that can be licensed, or a furnished long-let hybrid, at an entry price below the primary average. Buying an ordinary apartment at the primary average to run short stays is not something this site endorses.

In short: four lines first

What it costs to get in

Medium (USD 100k–250k)

Roughly what it earns

4–6%（Net return）

How much work for you

Medium (operator-managed)

The biggest catch

The numbers that matter

Net return

4–6%

Operator estimate As of: 2026-11-08 Source: Happy Land Realty Serviced Apartment Guide

Serviced-apartment rent, HCMC (Savills)

512,000–516,000 VND/m²/月

Verified range Stale data As of: 2024-06-30 Source: Savills as relayed by The Investor: Ho Chi Minh City / Hanoi serviced apartments 2024Q2 (Ho Chi Minh City supply 8,514 units, occupancy 79%, rent VND 512,000 per square metre per month)

Serviced-apartment occupancy, HCMC (Savills)

79–82%

Verified range Stale data As of: 2024-12-31 Source: Savills as relayed by The Investor: Ho Chi Minh City / Hanoi serviced apartments 2024Q2 (Ho Chi Minh City supply 8,514 units, occupancy 79%, rent VND 512,000 per square metre per month)

Primary apartment asking average, HCMC

3950 USD/m²

Verified As of: 2025-12-31 Source: Knight Frank Vietnam press release 2025Q4: Ho Chi Minh City primary apartment asking price USD 3,950 per square metre, Hanoi USD 3,877

Personal rental tax (2026 rules)

Verified As of: 2026-04-29 Source: Vietnam 2026 rental-tax rules for individuals (Decrees 68/2026 & 141/2026, DNP Law)

12-month term deposit rates (Vietnam, Nov 2026)

5.85–7%

Verified range As of: 2026-11-08 Source: StockBiz interest rate survey (2026-11-08): deposit rate table for 35 banks, with several listing 7.0% for 12-month fixed deposits

Figures we have not verified (shown for reference only, never used for conclusions):

HCMC short-stay market (data-vendor basis)：Airbtics 2025 年度报告（数据商挂牌追踪估算）：胡志明市短租入住率 53%、年新增挂牌 3,555 套、全年挂牌供给 +37.5%、全年预订约 252 万间夜（ Broker claim ，Data as of: 2025-12-31）

Why we think it makes money

The demand pool is real, but narrow. Serviced-apartment tenants are the expatriate executives and corporate long-stay clients that FDI brings: on Savills' basis, Ho Chi Minh City serviced-apartment supply is about 8,514 units (Q2 2024, +21% year on year), occupancy 79%, average rent VND 512,000/sq m/month; Hanoi occupancy is 83% with rent VND 601,000. On Avison Young's Q3 2025 basis, long-stay demand is steady, clients prefer larger layouts (two/three bedrooms), and leading projects (such as Nikko Saigon) are fully let. Demand follows the FDI cycle; it is not local end-user demand.

The premium comes from the service, not the flat itself. The same apartment, let furnished on a long lease, grosses about 3.7–6% (agency basis); run as a serviced apartment, the claimed gross is 7–10% — the extra is housekeeping, linen, front desk, short-stay channels and the corporate-client premium. The cost is written in the cost stack: operating costs eat about one third to 40% of gross income, plus rental tax (under the 2026 rules a single-unit holding normally sits inside the VND 1 billion exemption — see the next point). Put Savills' achieved rents in: Ho Chi Minh City VND 512,000/sq m/month × 12 months = annual gross rent of about USD 232/sq m — at the primary price (USD 3,950/sq m) the nominal gross yield is only about 5.9%, nowhere near the guide basis's 7–10%. The guide's gross range implies an entry price far below today's primary average.

This site worked the cost stack through (assumptions stated): Savills rents as the income side, occupancy 79%, operating costs at 35% of gross income. Rental tax follows the 2026 rules by case: for a single-unit holding (total rent across all leases within the VND 1 billion/year exemption — on this site's income assumptions, any single unit up to about 206 sq m sits inside it) the tax is zero → entry at USD 3,950/sq m (the primary average) nets about 3.0%, USD 2,500 about 4.8%, USD 2,000 about 6.0%. On the old rule's flat 10% as a conservative floor (a portfolio above the threshold actually pays an effective 5–10%; accommodation-business classification is separate) → about 2.5% / 4.0% / 5.0%. In other words, the originally cited net 4–6% holds at a discounted secondary entry — on the new-rule basis this site's own workings for USD 2,000–2,500 land at about 4.8–6.0% — and still does not hold at the primary average. Most of this opportunity's profit or loss is set by the purchase price.

The benchmark has moved. The original comparison used 12-month term deposits at 5.4% (Oct 2026); listed rates in Nov 2026 are about 5.9–7.0% (several banks list 7.0% for 12-month deposits; the large banks are about 5.85–6.8%). A serviced apartment's net figure first has to beat "leaving the money in the bank" before any operating premium is worth discussing — at a primary-price entry, it cannot. On the new-rule basis, the entry price at which the net figure catches the low end of deposits (5.85%) is about USD 2,040/sq m (about USD 1,720 on the old-rule basis) — "the discount has to be deep" still holds, just less deep than before; and catching a deposit rate is not beating it, so the compensation for operating and liquidity risk remains thin.

The rule side is this round's biggest change: in Feb 2025 Ho Chi Minh City banned short stays in pure residential apartments outright (Decision 26/2025; about 8,700–9,000 Airbnb listings affected). From 25 Apr 2026, Decision 19/2026 switched to licensed permission — register as an accommodation operator and meet the Tourism Law, tax, public-order and guest-declaration requirements, and short stays inside residential apartments are permitted. The risk point listed earlier, "short-stay rules tightened in 2025", is out of date: the risk now is not a ban, but that "the tension between the city-level permission and Article 3.8 of the 2023 Housing Law has not disappeared, and the rules may change again".

How to actually get in

Fix the product: buy only assets that can be operated legally — branded serviced-apartment buildings, or tourism/mixed-use projects (for condotels and officetels, check the land classification first). Pure residential apartments can in principle only be long-let; short-stay operation is only possible via the licensed route (Ho Chi Minh City Decision 19/2026, effective 25 Apr 2026). With an officetel/condotel you are buying a use right over commercial/tourism land, not a residential right — check the land certificate's classification first.
Fix the model: prefer a "furnished long-let hybrid" — 6–12 month corporate leases under operator management, balancing compliance and rent premium. Pure short-stay only where the project can be licensed and you can withstand the rules changing again. Hanoi has not followed Ho Chi Minh City's relaxation; treat Hanoi assets as long-let or licensed serviced buildings.
Verify the price (this site's decision line): work backwards from Savills' achieved rents (Ho Chi Minh City about VND 512,000/sq m/month) — at an entry price of USD 2,000–2,500/sq m or below, the net return can reach about 4–5%; at an entry price near the primary average of USD 3,950/sq m, the net return is only about 2.5%, below term deposits. Do not enter a primary price above USD 3,000/sq m without evidence of a secondary-market discount or an operating premium.
Set up the vehicle and tax: individuals declare rental tax as they go (5% VAT + 5% personal income tax, on the gross). Rental income within the tax-free threshold is exempt (the 2026 threshold basis is unsettled — have a tax adviser confirm before signing). Settle the tax treatment of remitting rent out and of a future sale before you buy.
Manage and review: hand operations to an operator, with the fee rate, reporting frequency and occupancy targets written into the contract. Review rents and occupancy quarterly on the Savills basis; if the actual net figure runs below the same-term deposit rate for two consecutive quarters, downgrade to long-let or exit.

What it costs, what it earns

Entry amount: Medium (USD 100k–250k)
How much work for you: Medium (operator-managed)

Costs & taxes, item by item:

Purchase price: the primary-market average in Ho Chi Minh City is about USD 3,950/sq m (Knight Frank, Q4 2025). The secondary-market entry prices used in this site's workings — USD 2,000–2,500/sq m — are target prices for second-hand stock; verify the transacted price deal by deal.
Fit-out and furniture (one-off, a decisive variable): primary projects handed over as bare shells need soft furnishings, furniture and appliances to reach operable standard. This site's workings provide for depreciation and replacement at 8–12% of rental income per year from year 2 and do not spread the one-off fit-out into the annualised cost — to be conservative, recompute on a full-cost basis when deciding.
Operating cost (about one third to 40% of gross income, Happy Land basis): operator/management fees, housekeeping and linen consumables, periodic replacement of furniture and appliances, owner-borne utilities and internet, platform and marketing fees, deep cleaning between tenancies, and higher vacancy loss than long-term letting.
Rental tax (on revenue): for individuals, total rent across all leases up to VND 1 billion/year is exempt from VAT and PIT (declaration still required); above the threshold, VAT is 5% on the full amount and PIT 5% only on the excess over VND 1 billion (Decree 141/2026, retroactive to 1 January 2026). The old rule (Circular 40/2021) charged 10% on total rent above VND 100 million. Note: accommodation businesses fall outside this formula; the business-licence tax is reported abolished from 1 January 2026.
Holding cost: property management fees, the sinking fund, insurance. Mortgage rates are reported at about 12–15%/year (Avison Young basis, via media) — leverage offers almost no positive carry, and this site's workings use an all-cash basis.
Compliance cost (licensed short-stay): accommodation-business registration, Tourism Law compliance, fire-safety and public-order requirements, and the labour and agency cost of guest declarations and tax filings. Short-stay operation in ordinary residential apartments in Ho Chi Minh City must follow the licensed route under Decision 19/2026.

Basis: this site uses full-cost net returns only — income minus vacancy, management, maintenance, taxes and insurance, then financing interest, with entry costs in the denominator. See the methodology。

Identity & tax

Status (residency / citizenship)

越南 DT 投资签证

This asset does not count toward the channel This asset leads to no status

Threshold: 企业实缴出资 ≥ 30 亿越南盾才起步（DT3）

买公寓单位是买房，不计入 DT 出资，附带不了任何签证；外国人买房另有整栋 30% 配额与 50 年产权期限。想拿居留只能另走企业出资结构。

Source: 越南 Law 47/2014；Housing Law 2023

Tax (investor level)

按毛收入 10% 计税（5% VAT + 5% PIT、无费用扣除）直接惩罚低毛利长租/服务式模型——这是本页净回报测算的关键扣减项。

个人出租：5% VAT + 5% PIT 按毛收入计；年收入 ≤ 1 亿越南盾免税（2026 年上调门槛的说法未核实）。
转让：按全额售价 2% 计 PIT。
持有期：无像样的年度房产税，税负集中在现金流与退出两端。

Double-tax treaties: 越南有 80 多个税收协定，中国、新加坡、印度均在列并生效；协定减免须凭税务居住证明申请。

Source: 越南财政部 Circular 40/2021/TT-BTC；PIT Law 04/2007；Law 47/2014（DT 投资签证）

This section is general information only — not immigration or tax advice. Program rules change frequently; before acting, rely on the official texts and a licensed adviser.

Risks: what could go wrong

The entry price decides the net return: working back from Savills' achieved rents, at the primary average (about USD 3,950/sq m, Knight Frank Q4 2025) the net return is only about 2.5–3.5%, below 12-month term deposits (about 5.9–7.0%, listed Nov 2026). The 4–6% net range holds only at a secondary entry price of USD 2,000–2,500/sq m. Prices are rising (Ho Chi Minh City primary prices went from USD 3,752 to 3,950/sq m within a year) while rents are not keeping up — the price-to-rent ratio is still worsening. If these happen, our take changes: If secondary transacted prices return below USD 2,500/sq m while Savills-basis rents hold above VND 500,000/sq m/month, the net return returns above 4% and this risk is downgraded. If primary prices keep rising while rents do not move, this opportunity is downgraded to "don't".

The rules have turned twice in 18 months: banned in Feb 2025 (Decision 26/2025), then licensed permission in Apr 2026 (Decision 19/2026). The permission's legal basis is a city-level decision reinterpreting Article 3.8 of the 2023 Housing Law, and the tension with the higher-level law has not disappeared. Hanoi has not followed and still relies on the Housing Law and building management committees case by case. A long lease signed on a "currently permitted" basis must assume the rules change once more. If these happen, our take changes: If Vietnam issues a unified national framework for short-stay/apartment accommodation management, the rule risk is downgraded. If Ho Chi Minh City tightens again, or Hanoi follows with a ban, the pure short-stay model fails and the whole position must switch to a long-let hybrid.

A narrow demand pool and high vacancy: serviced-apartment tenants are expatriate executives and corporate clients, and demand follows the FDI and multinational hiring cycle. On Savills' basis, Ho Chi Minh City occupancy is about 79% (2024) — roughly one fifth of the time vacant, well above the single-digit vacancy of ordinary residential. Ho Chi Minh City's short-stay supply also grew 37.5% in 2025 (Airbtics estimate); informal supply is diverting demand. If these happen, our take changes: If realised FDI falls for two consecutive quarters, or occupancy at major serviced buildings drops below 75%, demand expectations are revised down. If a new Savills release shows Ho Chi Minh City occupancy back above 85% with rents up 5% year on year, the demand risk is downgraded.

Tax and compliance costs: rental tax is charged on revenue, not profit — under the settled 2026 rules, total rent across all of an individual's leases up to VND 1 billion/year is exempt (declaration still required); above that, VAT is 5% on the full amount and PIT 5% only on the excess over VND 1 billion. The remaining uncertainty is classification: a serviced apartment classified as an accommodation business falls outside this formula. This site's workings were re-checked under the new rules (8 Nov 2026): on the zero-tax single-unit basis the net figures are about 3.0% / 4.8% / 6.0% (entry at USD 3,950 / 2,500 / 2,000 per sq m), with the old rule's flat-10% basis (about 2.5% / 4.0% / 5.0%) shown alongside as a conservative floor. Licensed short-stay operation adds ongoing registration, fire-safety, security and guest-declaration compliance costs. If these happen, our take changes: If the tax authority classifies the target property as an accommodation business, the tax burden is re-estimated on the general business basis and this item escalates; if confirmed as real-estate leasing, this item drops to a routine compliance matter.

Asset rights and liquidity: foreigners buy a 50-year use right (renewable once), subject to a 30% quota per building; resale to Vietnamese buyers usually requires a discount. Officetel/condotel land is classified differently from residential land and the rights are weaker. When price growth outruns rent, the exit depends on the next buyer's expectation of further price rises, not on rental return. If these happen, our take changes: If an operable secondary asset below USD 2,000/sq m appears and its leasing depth is verified on the Savills basis, this risk is downgraded. Conversely, if primary prices settle above USD 4,500/sq m, this opportunity is downgraded overall to "don't".

What we have not verified yet

The following key figures have not yet been verified; the reason is noted for each item.

The sole source for net 4–6% is one agency's (Happy Land Realty's) sales guide; no institution (Savills/CBRE/JLL) publishes a net-return series for Vietnamese serviced apartments. This site's recomputation (net about 2.5%–5.0%, varying with entry price) is this site's arithmetic — the inputs are sourced, the result is not independently verified.
Institutional serviced-apartment data runs only to 2024 (Savills Q2/Q4 bases, via media). There is no institutional aggregate for 2025–2026; the rents and occupancy used on this page are labelled with their year — do not cite them as current-year values.
The serviced-apartment tax classification is unsettled: the 2026 rental-tax rule itself is settled — total rent across all of an individual's leases up to VND 1 billion/year is exempt from VAT and PIT (declaration still required); above the threshold, VAT is 5% on the full amount and PIT 5% only on the excess over VND 1 billion (Decree 141/2026, retroactive to 1 January 2026). But the rental formula expressly excludes accommodation businesses, so if a serviced apartment is classified as an accommodation business (kinh doanh lưu trú) a different tax method applies — confirm the classification with local tax advisers before committing.
Mortgage rates, verified basis: post-promotion floating rates run about 12–15%/year (Avison Young, Vietnam Market Report Q3 2026, relayed by multiple outlets from the same report; the report PDF itself was not retrieved). Promotional fixed rates are commonly 8.5–11% for only 6–12 months (DKRA bank survey; VARS). This site's workings use an all-cash basis, no leverage.
Airbtics' Ho Chi Minh City short-stay data (occupancy 53%, supply +37.5%) is a data vendor's listing-tracking estimate, not official statistics. Portal slogans such as FazWaz's "Grade A occupancy about 95%" were not used.

FAQ

Is the serviced-apartment net return of 4–6% credible?: Credible only with conditions. Its sole source is one agency's (Happy Land Realty's) sales guide; there is no institutional net-return series. This site recomputed it from Savills' achieved rents (Ho Chi Minh City VND 512,000/sq m/month, occupancy 79%): after the occupancy discount, the gross yield is about 4.6% (at primary prices) to 9.2% (at a USD 2,000/sq m entry); deduct operating costs of about 35% and rental tax of 10%, and the net is about 2.5%–5.0%. So 4–6% holds only at a low entry price; buy at the primary average and you get about 2.5%.
Why does the entry price decide everything?: Because rent is set per square metre and has nothing to do with what you paid. On Savills' basis, achieved serviced-apartment rent in Ho Chi Minh City is about VND 512,000/sq m/month: at a purchase price of USD 3,950/sq m (the primary average) the nominal gross yield is only about 5.9%; at USD 2,000/sq m it is about 11.6%. Same flat, same rent — the entry price differs by a factor of two and the net return differs by a factor of two. Most of this opportunity's profit or loss is decided at the moment of purchase.
Can foreigners buy and operate?: Buying: yes, but an apartment is a 50-year use right (renewable once), each building has a 30% foreigner quota cap, and resale is only to foreigners (relaxed after 2023) or to Vietnamese buyers (at a discount). Operating: from 25 Apr 2026, Ho Chi Minh City permits licensed short-stay operation inside residential apartments (you must register as an accommodation operator and meet tourism, tax, public-order and guest-declaration requirements). Hanoi still follows the 2023 Housing Law and building management-committee rules. Nominee arrangements are void and carry confiscation risk — do not use them.
Is short-stay rental in Ho Chi Minh City banned or not?: Three steps: Article 3.8 of the 2023 Housing Law prohibits non-residential use of apartments (effective 1 Aug 2024); Ho Chi Minh City's Decision 26/2025 (27 Feb 2025) accordingly banned by-the-day/by-the-hour short stays in pure residential apartments, affecting about 8,700–9,000 Airbnb listings; Decision 19/2026 (effective 25 Apr 2026) switched to licensed permission — register as an accommodation operator, comply with tax and declarations, and you may operate. Purpose-built branded serviced-apartment buildings were never in the banned category; both the ban and the permission target short stays inside ordinary residential apartments.
How much more does serviced operation earn than plain long-let?: More gross, not much more net. Furnished long-let nets about 2.9–4.2% (Realtique basis, including its workings); serviced operation, in this site's workings at a low entry price, nets about 4–5% — about 1–2 percentage points more than long-let, at the cost of operating intensity, vacancy (serviced occupancy about 79–82% versus single-digit vacancy for long-let) and rule risk. Against Nov 2026 term deposits (about 5.9–7.0%), neither has the edge — the serviced format's excess return has to come from buying cheap and operating well; it needs both.

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Data dates are marked per metric; page updated 2026-11-08. This site publishes information and is not investment advice; the corrections channel is in the Disclaimer。