China’s housing market to remain robust in 2017, says Citigroup
Property research chief Oscar Choi tells conference in Hong Kong not to expect any tightening in liquidity
China’s housing market will remain robust next year, despite already hitting new highs in 2016 as the central government moved to maintain market sentiment while clearing an oversupply of units in smaller cities, according to Citigroup.
“Unsold stock will only be cut if home prices keep rising, so there’s no doubt the physical market will keep thriving in 2017,” Oscar Choi, head of Asia-Pacific property at Citi Research, told a real estate conference in Hong Kong.
Choi and his team have been named as best property analysts for the past seven years by Institutional Investor magazine.
Nationwide property sales have grown by a record 40 per cent so far in 2016, with home and land prices in China’s first- and second- tier cities, such as Shanghai and Shenzhen, going through the roof.
The performances have fueled speculation that liquidity in the market may be tightened soon to slow down the increases, but Choi said there has been no sign of that yet.
“What I have seen is five or six banks sometimes chasing one developer to offer it financing services, after land purchases. That won’t happen if they receive any internal guidance from the central bank,” Choi said.