Shenzhen to auction off just six plots of land in a move analysts say is unlikely to dent runaway home prices

Name: Cheap housing but few economic opportunities for young Chinese in city along Russian border
Uploaded: 2021-04-15T00:30:18.000Z
Duration: 8 min 7 s
Description: Cheap housing but few economic opportunities for young Chinese in city along Russian border

The technology hub listed six parcels of residential land on its website as open for bids, asking at least 11.9 billion yuan (US$1.8 billion)

The city, plagued by a shortage of land, has seen its home prices soar, buoyed by surging demand as people bet on its future

Reading Time:2 minutes

Why you can trust SCMP

Pearl Liu

Published: 8:30am, 15 Apr 2021Updated: 8:30am, 15 Apr 2021

Shenzhen, China’s Silicon Valley in southern Guangdong province, faced with a land shortage and housing affordability crisis, has put a mere six plots up for grabs in the first of three land auctions this year.

Analysts said the number – which pales compared to other big city land auctions – is nowhere near enough to cool the piping hot property market.

The Shenzhen Public Resources Trading Platform on Wednesday listed six parcels of residential land on its website as open for bids, asking at least 11.9 billion yuan (US$1.8 billion).

The auction, to be staged on May 13, will be the first in the southern Chinese city since the central government introduced a centralised land sale scheme earlier this year.

The scheme, which aims to rein in land and home prices, stipulates that land must only be sold three times a year. The idea is to discourage developers from going on a buying binge as they are likely to consider using their funds more judiciously.

In comparison to Shenzhen’s paltry offering, the neighbouring city of Guangzhou in the proannounced that 48 pieces of land will go on sale in its first of three auctions, while the country’s capital, Beijing, will auction off 30 plots.

08:07

Cheap housing but few economic opportunities for young Chinese in city along Russian border

Market observers said the six sites up for grabs in Shenzhen would have a “very limited” effect on cooling down the housing market.