A 25m x 20m property in the Kim Son residential area (fronting Nguyen Huu Tho Street, District 7, HCM City), for example, has a rental price of about $15,000/month (around VND390 million). If a lease is signed, the rent will increase by about 5 percent annually, according to a real estate broker.

“The space was once leased by a well-known furniture company but is now vacant. The owner doesn’t want to split the area for smaller rentals,” the broker told VietNamNet.

In the affluent Phu My Hung area (District 7), it’s not hard to spot prime, vacant retail spaces, especially shophouses. On Nguyen Luong Bang Street, considered the busiest commercial strip in Phu My Hung, shophouses at the base of projects like Happy Residence Premier, The Antonia, The Ascentia, Green View Phu My Hung, and Cardinal Court are lined with signboards seeking tenants.

A VietNamNet survey found that though the retail premises have been left idle, rental prices remain high. On Raymondienne Street in the Star Hill residential area of Phu My Hung, the cheapest retail space rents for VND65 million/month. Owners require a three-month deposit and monthly payments, meaning tenants have to pay VND200 million at once to start a business.

“After negotiation, the lowest price could be VND60 million/month, excluding management fees. It can’t go any lower,” another broker said.

In Phu My Hung’s Midtown, rental prices for a space on Street No 16 range from $2,600 to $2,700/month (about VND70 million). At the Green View Phu My Hung project, a shophouse rents for VND65 million/month, excluding a VND2.7 million/month management fee.

The unsold business premises for rent are most evident on Hai Ba Trung Street. This usually bustling street now has many vacant premises. From the intersection with Vo Thi Sau Street to the intersection with Nguyen Van Chiem Street, about 1km long, there are tens of vacant frontages.

Nearby, on Dong Khoi Street (District 1), many commercial spaces also display "for rent" signs.

Late in 2024, a Cushman & Wakefield report named Dong Khoi the most expensive street for retail rentals in Vietnam, ranking 14th globally. Data from batdongsan.com shows rental prices there range from VND100 million to VND300 million/month. A prime property at the Dong Khoi and Dong Du intersection is listed for VND400 million/month.

Other prime corner locations, like Nguyen Hue and Ngo Duc Ke, Pasteur and Ly Tu Trong, or Hai Ba Trung and Vo Thi Sau, also remain vacant.

A Q1 2025 CBRE report on HCM City’s real estate market noted that many brands in entertainment, dining, fashion, beauty, and health have given retail premises back to the landlords. 

Net retail space absorption in the city dropped by about 61.6 percent from the previous quarter. The average vacancy rate across the market rose slightly from 6.9 percent at the end of 2024 to 7.1 percent in the first quarter.

The lack of customers at thousand-dollar storefronts can be partly explained by the difficult business situation in the city. A survey by the HCM City Business Association found that 50 percent of businesses face negative impact from reduced consumer demand, and 39 percent lack operating capital, while 38 percent struggle with rising input costs, and 37 percent still have no new orders.

Savills Vietnam noted that traditional retail faces stiff competition from modern retail, which offers more diverse goods and services. As a result, vacancy rates for street-front retail spaces haven’t returned to their pre-Covid-19 peak, though the average rental price in HCMC’s major streets is 10-20 percent lower than in 2019.

In order to lure tenants, landlords have offered incentives like fixed rental rates for longer periods, flexible payment schedules, reduced deposits, or shorter lease terms, but vacant spaces remain common, even in well positioned locations.

Cao Thi Thanh Huong from Savills HCM City, said the retail sector is undergoing significant changes, particularly in consumer behavior and the way retail models operate. Social distancing during the pandemic pushed people toward online shopping, and many grew accustomed to its convenience and cost savings. This has altered shopping habits.

“Most consumers continue to shop online even as the market recovers. This long-term shift in behavior significantly impacts demand for traditional retail spaces,” Huong said.

Prior to that, in a report released in late February, DKRA Group stated that rental prices for shophouse retail spaces in HCM City decreased by an average of 2 percent compared to the period before the Lunar New Year. Compared to the same period last year, rental prices for shophouses in the city center have dropped by 24-26 percent.

Shophouse rental prices in District 1 fell by an average of 17-20 percent, District 5 by 25-30 percent, and Phu My Hung Urban Area (District 7) by 12 percent.

Tran Chung