WE ARE IN a fine fix indeed when questions about stability in supply of public land are left to developers who can hardly agree among themselves and cannot seem to agree with what they said yesterday.
You may argue, of course, that the Real Estate Developers' Association (Reda) is a group that the government naturally wishes to consult occasionally on the topic of property development; part of keeping in touch with all sectors of the community, you know.
If only it were all sectors. First the developers get an opportunity to bend the ear of President Hu Jintao and then they get a session with Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa to make their pitch.
Meanwhile, you can make fists of your hands if you want to count on your fingers the number of occasions that the Democrats have had this sort of exchange of views with either, and the Democrats constitute the party with consistently the greatest majority of votes in what passes for general elections in Hong Kong.
On the surface it seems that the members of Reda have agreed to a resumption of land sales next year despite the stand taken last month in Beijing by their president, Stanley Ho Hung-sun, that a freeze on land sales should be extended another year.
But look more closely and what they actually say is that the resumption should only apply to land for luxury residential developments. This represents a very small fraction of the total market.
Methinks Mr Ho has not really changed his views at all but just beribboned them in response to an economic recovery that will likely bring a revival of demand in the property market and certainly benefit developers' margins, particularly if land supply remains pinched.