The Ministry of Construction has urged local governments, especially Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, to take cautions before licensing new residential projects to avoid possible oversupplies, the government website reported on June 28.

Local authorities need to review local housing demands and take measures to improve the market's transparency, it said, citing the ministry's order.

The ministry made the move amid reports that apartment sales in Vietnam have been falling.

In Hanoi, 6,100 new units were launched in the past three months, a quarter-on-quarter increase of 19%. Although the city enjoyed a quarter-on-quarter rise of 20% in sales to 4,806 units, it was a decrease of 7.2% year-on-year, the company said.

Vietnam's gross domestic product grew 5.52% in the first half year, compared to the expansion 6.28% recorded in the same period last year, according to official data.