Beijing credit curbs hurt mainland firms
Hong Kong developers such as Sun Hung Kai Properties are seizing the advantage from their mainland rivals whose land bank acquisitions are being constrained by Beijing's tightened credit policies.
With no competition, Sun Hung Kai Properties won a 12.1 million square foot commercial-residential site in Chengdu at the opening bid of 3.11 billion yuan.
'The austerity measures and tightening bank loans have severely hit developers that have less capital,' said Dickson Wong Hung, a director of Centaline (China) Property Consultant.
Starting in September, developers were required to fully pay for the land before construction could begin. Previously, land payments could be made in instalments according to the property's developmental stage.
The new policy imposed a heavier financial burden on developers and favoured cash-rich listed property developers at auctions or in mergers and acquisitions, said an analyst.
Guangzhou Investment yesterday announced it acquired two sites in Jinshazhou in Guangzhou for 523 million yuan to develop a large-scale, low-density, high-end project.
