Buying Property in AustraliaFrom Ho Chi Minh City
Buying, refinancing or releasing equity on property in Australia, and only in Australia, for Australians in Ho Chi Minh City and across Vietnam. We’re former bankers, we compare 40+ lenders, we’re paid by the lender (not by you), and we work Ho Chi Minh City hours.
- Australian citizens in Vietnam face no FIRB approval and no foreign-buyer ban: the whole Australian market is open to you, established homes included, and permanent residents are generally treated the same way while they remain ordinarily resident in Australia.
- Vietnamese dong sit on the preferred currency list, so lenders commonly count 80 per cent of your gross salary, and foreign overtime, allowances, commission and bonuses are now accepted in servicing at select lenders.
- Ho Chi Minh City runs three hours behind Melbourne in the Australian winter and four in the summer: your morning is Melbourne’s midday. We work to your time zone.
- The full journey, documents to settlement without a flight, is in our step-by-step overseas buying guide. This page covers what is specific to Ho Chi Minh City.
A question about an Australian home loan, from Ho Chi Minh City? Put it to a former banker, free.
The calendar shows times in your own time zone. Bring your income details and say if you are purchasing, refinancing or releasing equity.
Book a Ho Chi Minh City call with a former bankerHome loans for Australian expats in Vietnam
Most of the Australians who ask about a mortgage back home are living in Ho Chi Minh City, which is why this guide is written from there. The lending is national rather than local. Someone in Hanoi or Da Nang meets the same Australian assessment, prepares the same evidence and reaches the same decision points, because it is Australian criteria doing the work, not anything on the ground in Vietnam.
Sitting three hours behind Melbourne in the Australian winter is a genuine advantage. At 10am on a Tuesday in Australia it is 7:00 AM on Tuesday for you, early enough to read what arrived overnight, deal with it over breakfast and have it back in Australia before the middle of their morning. A single query rarely costs you a full day.
For most people the next step is the purchase process itself, which we set out in our guide to buying property in Australia while living overseas.
Vietnamese dong, through a lender’s eyes
Vietnamese dong on an Australian credit desk now assess briskly: preferred-list treatment commonly counts around 80 per cent of gross salary, with each lender setting its own line on overtime, allowances and bonuses. Most model the pay at Australian tax scales whatever the Vietnamese rate actually was. Between the best and worst match for a given payslip sits a budget difference that routinely reaches six figures.
Deposit and LVR on a dong salary. One major bank’s foreign income policy lists the dong in its second tier: 80 per cent of the gross salary counted after a 20 per cent deduction and converted at the XE rate, a maximum loan of 80 per cent of the property value and no lenders mortgage insurance, so a 20 per cent deposit plus costs is the planning number in Ho Chi Minh City. The 95 per cent tier belongs to seven currencies, pounds, euros, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, US and Canadian dollars, which is why a package paid in US dollars is read on a different line. A permanent resident living overseas stops at 80 per cent whatever the currency.
Vietnam’s Australian community has grown fast with the manufacturing and services boom, and Vietnamese dong now appear on preferred currency lists, which would have been unthinkable a decade ago.
Dong on the preferred list keeps the tempo: 80 per cent of your gross salary commonly counts, and foreign overtime, allowances, commission and bonuses now clear servicing at select lenders. Note the modelling quirk before you plan around take-home pay: lenders generally assess the salary as if Australian tax applied to it, even where your actual rate is lower, one more variable that widens the gap between lenders.
Getting your own number needs no meeting: today’s dong rate from xe.com, straight into the calculator below, which applies the income count set out in our Australian expat home loans guide. Then hold the caveat that outranks the rest: from the same Ho Chi Minh City payslip, lender policies routinely produce answers six figures of budget apart, which is why matching the lender comes ahead of hunting the house.
Vietnam’s boom has pulled Australian engineers, teachers and manufacturing managers to Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, often on packages that mix dong salaries with housing support. Document translation is the main friction, so the NAATI step belongs at the top of the checklist here more than anywhere.
Updates as fast as you type, and privately: what you enter stays inside your browser, unseen by us or anyone. The 80 per cent shading tier and the debt-to-income cap of five are indicative settings; the finished figure waits on tax modelling, commitments and full serviceability, and the same payslip still spans six figures between lenders. General information only, not credit advice.
Cotality’s median dwelling values as at 30 September 2026 set each capital’s bar: Sydney $1,198,596, Brisbane $1,048,880, Perth $975,022, Adelaide $928,560, Melbourne $780,550. Against those, an indicative ceiling near $560,000 runs under all five medians, which turns the search toward units and regional markets, or toward a bigger deposit or a co-borrower. It is priced on the worked example’s illustrative rate, so as the dong moves the ceiling moves with it, live in the calculator above; the full median tracker has the full city detail.
Five years of the dong, in Australian dollars
On Reserve Bank of Australia monthly data the dong has kept a steady beat, about A$0.00006 in August 2021, A$0.00006 in August 2023 and A$0.00006 in August 2025, before easing to about A$0.00005 now. Even that quiet drift matters at deposit scale: a ₫2.5 billion transfer caught the top of the range at $163,859 and the bottom at $132,591, and the $31,268 between them is why timing sits in the plan beside lender choice.
Work the scenario at your own speed: the live rate sits at xe.com and the calculator above turns it into borrowing power immediately. No one predicts the dong reliably, so the job is simpler: know beforehand what a small rate move does to your deposit, move large sums in staged legs rather than on one date, and keep every leg inside the settlement-transfer safeguards. Exchange-rate figures are RBA monthly averages and general information, not financial or FX advice.
The practical bits, from Ho Chi Minh City
Practicalities for Ho Chi Minh City-based buyers: the time difference of three to four hours behind Melbourne shapes call scheduling rather than preventing it; documents follow the standard expat file of employment evidence, bank statements and recent payslips; documents issued in Vietnamese require NAATI-accredited translation; and inspections, contracts and settlement all complete remotely.
- Time zones: Ho Chi Minh City is three to four hours behind Melbourne. Your morning is Melbourne’s midday, and our calendar shows slots in your local time.
- Documents: the standard expat file applies: employment contract or letter, three months of salary credits, two payslips no older than about 60 days. If your payslips and contract are issued in Vietnamese, they need translation by a NAATI-accredited professional translator, not by you and not by your broker, so build that into the timeline early.
- On the ground: Hanoi runs identically. Inspections, exchange and settlement all run remotely: the mechanics are Steps 5 and 6 of the main guide.
- The city, redrawn: Vietnam’s 2025 provincial restructuring folded Binh Duong and Ba Ria-Vung Tau into an expanded Ho Chi Minh City, listed by the Viet Nam Government Portal at 6,772.6 square kilometres and 13,608,800 people. If your payslips or rental contract now carry redrawn ward or province names, have the NAATI translation follow the documents exactly so the file stays consistent.
- Paperwork, closer than Hanoi: the Australian Consulate-General in Ho Chi Minh City sits on the 20th floor of the Vincom Centre at 47 Ly Tu Trong in District 1, per Smartraveller. If a conveyancer or bank asks for certified copies of identity documents, that office is the consular contact for Australians in southern Vietnam, so check its current services and appointment process before planning anything further afield.
- Two passports, one household: Australia’s Work and Holiday visa (subclass 462) lists Vietnam among its eligible passports, and Home Affairs notes that Vietnamese passport holders enter a ballot before applying for a first visa, per the Home Affairs eligibility page. Where a Ho Chi Minh City household spans an Australian and a Vietnamese passport, mention both early, because visa status is one of the first things a lender asks about a second applicant.
- The market you are buying into: premium values fell 3.2 per cent in the three months to July 2026 while clearance rates sat under 50 per cent: the case for this cycle is in our buyer’s market analysis and buy-back window piece.
In Ho Chi Minh City? Start with one email. Email ahmed@everstonefinance.com.au, the link pre-fills a short template, and we reply within a day, your time. Or book a slot.
Australians elsewhere: our guides for Bali, Singapore, Hong Kong, or the full overseas playbook.
Already own in Australia? Refinance, cash out and equity release, from Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City-based Australians who already own at home can refinance those loans and release equity from Vietnam, at select lenders, without flying back. Two local facts help: the clock, three to four hours behind Melbourne, keeps the file moving inside a shared working day; and lenders assess the currency on your payslip rather than the country you sit in, whether that is dong on the preferred tier or the AUD and USD salaries of the regional remote workers this page describes. According to Everstone Finance, Australians in Ho Chi Minh City can refinance an Australian mortgage entirely from Vietnam: identity is certified locally, loan documents are signed electronically, and settlement goes through PEXA, the electronic platform Australian property settles on.
A review usually comes first: the steps in our negotiate-your-rate guide run from Ho Chi Minh City in near-Melbourne hours, and the cashback market currently rewards qualifying refinancers. Equity comes next: at select lenders, growth in the Australian property can come out as the deposit on a second property, and because those funds are drawn and settled inside Australia, the foreign-currency transfer rules on the Vietnam side never enter the picture, the timing question buyers moving fresh dong otherwise plan around. The file follows the standard expat pattern with one local addition: payslips or contracts issued in Vietnamese need NAATI-accredited translation, so order it at the start rather than the end. Both loans still have to service on shaded income, inside current valuations and LVR caps, and the structuring, dong salary or remote package paid in AUD or USD, is what a former banker maps in one conversation.
What an Australian in Vietnam calls a home equity loan is, at an Australian lender, a cash out refinance from Ho Chi Minh City, and most lenders go up to around 80 per cent of the property’s current value without lenders mortgage insurance, less the balance owed. The step to book in the city is identity certification at the Australian Consulate-General in the Vincom Center, open for notarial work on weekday mornings, while the valuation is done in Australia. Our Australian expat guide to cash out refinancing covers the purpose question every lender asks.
Australians in Vietnam on one clock: Hanoi, Hai Phong, Da Nang and the industrial south
Vietnam is the simplest country on this list to schedule, because the whole of it keeps Indochina Time, seven hours ahead of UTC, all year round with no daylight saving. Hanoi, Hai Phong, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City therefore share one offset against Melbourne: three hours behind on Australian Eastern Standard Time, and four hours behind from the first Sunday in October to the first Sunday in April, when Melbourne moves its clocks forward and Vietnam does not. For the video appointment, a 5pm Melbourne slot is 2pm in Hanoi in September and 1pm from October, so an Australian anywhere in Vietnam can take a late-afternoon Australian appointment from the office.
The Australian community is not confined to the south. Hanoi is the capital and the embassy city, Hai Phong the port to its east, Da Nang the central coast, and the Binh Duong industrial zones, which the 2025 restructuring noted above folded into the expanded Ho Chi Minh City, hold many of the manufacturing roles on Vietnamese contracts. What changes between them is the address on the file. The Vietnamese dong is read the same in all four, the document list is the same, the NAATI translation of Vietnamese-language payslips is the same, and the decision is Australian policy applied to Australian criteria whichever province the contract names.
Vietnam has two Australian posts, and both certify documents by appointment only. The Australian Embassy in Hanoi, at 8 Dao Tan Street in Giang Vo Ward, opens its notarial appointments on Monday afternoons from 1.30pm to 4pm and on Wednesday and Friday mornings and afternoons, and it will not certify a damaged or laminated document as a true copy. The Consulate-General in Ho Chi Minh City, in the Vincom Center on Ly Tu Trong Street, takes notarial appointments from 9am to noon, Monday to Friday. Neither Da Nang nor Hai Phong has a post, so an Australian there should either build a Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City trip into the timeline or ask the lender early whether an approved agent overseas is acceptable, which Smartraveller recommends checking with the receiving party first. The same certification step serves a refinance from Vietnam as well as a purchase.
The currency is the Vietnamese dong, and its lender treatment is national. Dong on a Hai Phong payslip are read on the same preferred-list basis as dong on a Ho Chi Minh City one, commonly around 80 per cent of gross salary at select lenders, and a US-dollar or Australian-dollar package assesses on its own currency wherever in Vietnam it is paid. The Reserve Bank of Australia quotes the dong daily, 18,806 dong to the Australian dollar on 4 September 2026. For how each lender reads it, see which Australian banks lend to expats.
In short: Vietnam is one country, one currency and one clock for an Australian lender. Hanoi, Hai Phong, Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh City are assessed identically, the dong is shaded identically, certification runs through Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh City by appointment, and every city is three hours behind Melbourne, four in the Australian summer.
Does living in Ho Chi Minh City limit an Australian home loan application?
Not by location. Lenders read the currency of the salary rather than the city, so an Australian in Ho Chi Minh City on a dong contract is assessed at the preferred tier, commonly around 80 per cent of gross salary, while an Australian dollar remote package needs no shading whatsoever.
Neighbouring postings follow the same rule. The Bali guide, the page for Australians in Singapore and our Hong Kong guide each start from a different currency, and in every case it is the payslip currency and the lender shortlist that set the budget rather than the city. The steps underneath them are in our guide to buying from overseas.
Two related pages: Australian expat home loans for the lender rules in one place, and Australian expat mortgage broker for how we run a file from Ho Chi Minh City without a flight home.
Buying a home in Australia from Ho Chi Minh City: three to four hours behind, one translation ahead
Buying a home in Australia from Ho Chi Minh City runs on a friendly clock, three hours behind Melbourne and four in the Australian summer, and on one extra document: NAATI translation of anything issued in Vietnamese. Dong income reads at around 80 per cent of gross on the preferred lists, identity is certified by appointment at the Consulate-General in the Vincom Center or the Embassy in Hanoi, and the contract, electronic signing, deposit transfer and settlement through PEXA all run from Vietnam.
Whether the search is buying a home in Australia from Ho Chi Minh City, buying a house in Australia from Vietnam, buying property in Australia from Vietnam or can I buy a house in Australia from Vietnam, a citizen or permanent resident can from Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang or Hai Phong, on one clock and one dong file.
Self-employed in Vietnam: building the file without a payslip
If you consult into Ho Chi Minh City rather than joining a company there, contract through your own arrangement, or run a venture of your own, the dong arrives against invoices. The income is ordinary. The paperwork is what differs.
The expat lending template expects employment: a payslip, an employment contract, and salary credits agreeing with them. A business income file is assembled another way. The evidence decides it, not the amount.
Everstone Finance decides the documentation route before lodgement. Brighten writes non-resident lending as either a full documentation loan or an alternative documentation loan. Bluestone treats any Australian citizen or permanent resident living overseas and earning in a foreign currency as an expat, and publishes flexible income verification options that include self-employed borrowers. Everstone matches the route to how the income arrives, because a decline leaves a credit enquiry and a valuation on the record.
Put it up front. Vietnam shares most of its working day with an Australian one, so settling how you are paid on that first call saves assembling a file twice.
Frequently asked questions
Can an Australian living in Ho Chi Minh City buy property in Australia?
Yes, at whatever pace suits you. FIRB screens foreign persons, and an Australian citizen living in Ho Chi Minh City is not one, so there is no approval step and no category of property you cannot buy. Permanent residents are generally treated the same way while they remain ordinarily resident in Australia, though a PR holder who has lived overseas for an extended period can be treated as a foreign person under FIRB rules and should confirm their position before signing a contract. The genuine work is the lending file and the remote settlement mechanics.
Does Everstone Finance arrange loans for property in Vietnam?
No. The property has to be in Australia. An apartment or a house in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang or anywhere else in Vietnam is outside what we do, and we cannot help with that purchase. For Australians living in Vietnam we arrange a loan to buy in Australia, a refinance of an existing Australian home loan, or the release of equity from an Australian property they already hold.
What do Australian expats in Vietnam need ready before applying for an Australian home loan?
Start with documentation. Australian lenders want proof of identity, evidence of income and employment, a record of what you already owe and a clear picture of your savings, all in a form an Australian assessor can verify. Certified copies take time to arrange from Hanoi, Da Nang or Ho Chi Minh City, so begin gathering them early. Vietnam runs three to four hours behind Melbourne, which leaves almost the entire Australian business day open to you for follow up.
How much of a VND salary will an Australian lender count?
Commonly around 80 per cent of gross salary, and the place Vietnamese dong hold on the preferred currency lists is what makes that tier available. Select lenders now fold overtime, allowances and bonuses into the assessment as well. The quiet variable is lender policy, which shifts budgets by six figures, in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi alike.
Do I need to fly back to Australia to buy?
No. Inspections run by video and local eyes, contracts sign electronically in most cases, and settlement completes electronically between your conveyancer and lender, and with Ho Chi Minh City only three to four hours behind Melbourne the file moves in near-shared working hours. The step-by-step mechanics are in our main overseas buying guide.
What documents do I need from Ho Chi Minh City?
Take it at a steady pace: the lender wants an employment contract or employer letter, bank statements that show salary credits across three months, two payslips issued inside about 60 days, and separate proof of bonus or allowance income. Vietnamese documents must be translated by a NAATI-accredited professional translator, never by you and never by your broker, which is worth booking before the rest of the file matures.
I work remotely from Ho Chi Minh City and am paid in AUD or USD. How does that assess?
Lenders read the currency of the salary, not the city on the utility bill. AUD income needs no shading whatsoever, USD income qualifies for the preferred 80 per cent tier, and a remote file is often the most straightforward expat application there is. Ho Chi Minh City’s regional remote workers sit squarely in that lane.
Will my Ho Chi Minh City bonus count towards an Australian loan?
At select lenders, yes: foreign bonuses, commission and incentives are now accepted in servicing, evidenced by bank statements showing the credits plus employer letters or payslips covering the most recent year. Lenders differ on averaging and haircuts, which is part of the matching exercise. Where a Ho Chi Minh City package is documented in Vietnamese, the NAATI translation step comes first, so start it early.
When should I convert my VND savings into Australian dollars?
There is no correct date, only a plan: the five-year spread above quantifies what timing luck is worth, and staged transfers keep any single day from deciding it. Deposit funds must also reach the lender traceable and seasoned, which sets the movement plan early in the sequence rather than settlement week. Vietnam’s transfer rules are the extra reason the dong plan starts early here.
Vietnam limits foreign currency transfers. Will that block my purchase?
It complicates timing rather than blocking it: documented transfers for property purchase are achievable, and many Vietnam-based Australians also hold offshore accounts in Singapore or Australia that simplify the trail. Lenders care that the funds are traceable and seasoned; starting the movement early keeps the settlement clock safe.
I already own a property in Australia. Can I refinance or release equity from Ho Chi Minh City?
Yes, at select lenders: refinancing and equity release run remotely from Ho Chi Minh City, assessed on the same shaded foreign-income basis as a purchase, and because released equity is drawn and settled inside Australia, the foreign-currency transfer limits on the Vietnam side do not come into play. Serviceability, current valuations and LVR caps still govern both loans, and the structure is worth one broker conversation before you commit.
Can I refinance my Australian investment property from Ho Chi Minh City if it is rented out?
Usually, yes. The Australian rental income can be assessed alongside your dong, AUD or USD salary, and an investment loan that has not been reviewed since you left Australia is often the first place to look. The whole process runs remotely on the assessment described on this page, and refinancing a property you already own involves no FIRB approval.
Can Australian expats anywhere in Vietnam apply for an Australian home loan?
Yes. Whether you live in Hanoi, Hai Phong, Da Nang or the industrial zones around Ho Chi Minh City, the loan is assessed under Australian lending policy, and Vietnamese dong are treated the same nationwide: preferred-list shading, commonly around 80 per cent of gross salary at select lenders. The documents, the NAATI translation step and the remote settlement process do not change with the city.
Does it matter which Vietnamese city I live in?
Only for logistics. Vietnam runs on a single time zone with no daylight saving, so every city is three hours behind Melbourne, four during Australian daylight saving. Certified identity documents come from the Australian Embassy in Hanoi or the Consulate-General in Ho Chi Minh City, both by appointment, so an Australian in Da Nang or Hai Phong should plan that trip early or ask the lender about a local alternative.
How do I buy a home in Australia from Ho Chi Minh City, step by step?
Order NAATI translations of any Vietnamese language contract or payslip first. Get a pre-approval on the dong salary, counted at around 80 per cent of gross, or on the Australian or US dollar salary if that is what the contract pays. Book certification at the Consulate-General in the Vincom Center or the Embassy in Hanoi; both work by appointment only. Search with a buyers agent or family, have an Australian conveyancer review the contract, sign electronically, transfer the deposit with statements showing the trail, and settle through PEXA. Deal with overnight questions over breakfast and they are back in Australia by mid morning.
Ho Chi Minh City to Melbourne is one conversation. Start it today, your time.
Your VND salary through the right lender’s eyes, your real budget in both currencies, and the whole purchase run remotely by former bankers. No cost, no obligation.
Book a chat with a former bankerIn Ho Chi Minh City? WhatsApp Ahmed from where you are. It is his own mobile, no call centre, and the first chat is free.
Australians buy back home from everywhere, and each city runs by its own clock and currency. See how the same purchase works from Singapore, Bali, Tokyo and Hong Kong, or start with the buying property in Australia from overseas guide, which maps all twenty guides.
The people behind Everstone
You’re trusting someone with one of the biggest financial decisions you’ll make. Here’s who you’ll actually be working with.
Ahmed Lotfi
A former major-bank lender who now works entirely for you. Ahmed handles structuring, refinancing and investment lending across the 40+ lender panel.
Zappelin Heng
Co-founder with deep lender experience, focused on getting complex and self-employed files assessed on their real strength, not a tick-box.
About the author. Ahmed Lotfi is co-founder of Everstone Finance and a former banker who now works as a mortgage and finance broker in South Yarra, Melbourne, arranging home, investment and commercial lending for Australians at home and abroad. Everstone Finance operates under the Best Interests Duty as Credit Representative 574314 of LMG Broker Services Pty Ltd, Australian Credit Licence 517921.