Shanghai developers misreported prices, statistics bureau says

Developers in Shanghai have been found to have incorrectly reported property prices to authorities, distorting national official housing market data.

The finding comes nearly six months after homebuyers criticised the government for publishing misleading information and analysts warned that inaccurate housing price data would lead to further instability in the real estate sector.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said yesterday that companies in Shanghai filed inaccurate housing prices to statistics authorities because some of their employees were 'unaware of the importance of the statistics work'. It did not say how many companies were involved in the misreporting.

The bureau is the mainland's central authority for publishing housing data in its 70 major cities. Its monthly report is regarded by homebuyers as the main gauge for the mainland's housing market conditions.

'Being the only authority doesn't necessarily mean the data are reliable,' Yang Hongxu, an analyst from E-House China R&D Institute, said. 'There are definitely distorted and misleading figures in the reports that have affected an already instable market.'

Unable to tell exactly to what extent the housing prices were wrongly reported, analysts said the reporting mechanism needed to be overhauled before the bureau could provide a clear picture of the sector.