The property market performed impressively in the first quarter of this year, with figures showing that recovery returned after a long freeze. However, a price fever or "market bubble" is not expected to occur due to several sources of supply, and because both buyers and property developers have become more cautious after the 2007-08 bust.

Hoa Binh Group has become the first local developer to capitalise on the amended Residential Housing Law to sell apartments to foreigners. The company has announced that it will earmark a large number of apartments at Hoa Binh Green City project in Hanoi for sales to expats once the law takes effect on July 1, 2015.

The Asia Property Awards will include Vietnam from this year, helping showcase the country's best properties on the regional stage. Started in Thailand in 2006 by Ensign Media, the publisher of Property Report magazine, the awards honoured developments, consultants, architects and designers in Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, and China until last year, and has been expanded this year to include Myanmar and Indonesia besides Vietnam.

Vietnam will witness an increase in the number of urban areas from the current 774 to 850 by the end of the year, and forecasts reaching 1,000 by 2020, heard a workshop on eco-urban development and carbon reduction in Hanoi this week.