This study aims to explore the influence of perceived value on purchasing consumers’ intentions in apartments in the Vietnamese real estate market. Specifically, the paper applies the Value-Attitude-Behavior (VAB) theory model to demonstrate the mediating role of customer trust in shaping and guiding home purchasing decisions. Besides, the research methodology conducted a quantitative survey with a scale of information collection from 320 potential customers in Ho Chi Minh City. The collected data were processed using the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) method on the SmartPLS 4.0 software, combined with the Bootstrap resampling technique. Experimental analyses show that perceived value has a very strong impact on both the purchasers’ trust (β = 0.621) and their purchasing intentions (β = 0.418). Notably, the trust not only directly drives the intention to purchase an apartment (β = 0.352) but also serves as a partial mediating role (β = 0.219). Overall, the proposed model explained 61.8% of the variation in customers' intention to purchase an apartment. From the above findings, project developers and investors need to focus on building a comprehensive product value transmission strategy, rather than simply competing on price. Establishing a system that reinforces trust throughout the customer experience journey is the golden key to increasing the success rate of transactions in the current volatile market. This work contributes to filling the theoretical gap regarding home-buying behavior in emerging economies by successfully validating the VAB theoretical framework using the PLS-SEM tool. The experimental results obtained have clarified the “dual impact” of perceived value, while also providing valuable scientific evidence to help managers gain a deeper understanding of the psychological factors shaping Vietnamese consumers’ decisions to own real estate.