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China’s property market has surged in recent years. After prices jumped 25 per cent in 2009 alone, the central government imposed austerity measures, including lending curbs, higher mortgage rates and restrictions on the number of homes each family can buy.
China’s new housing policies serve as a political statement that the economy is the priority and restoring domestic confidence is the key.
Chinese cities are rushing to dismantle a long-standing housing policy regime designed to keep speculators at bay, a remarkable U-turn that is just the beginning of a new chapter in the nation’s real estate market.
The rural town of Lishui is allowing individuals to participate in a land auction in an experiment that, if successful, could be a model for other cities over time.
Services sector and overseas demand for exports may have buoyed first-quarter GDP, but daunting challenges remain for country on path to recovery.
- A rebound in demand and home prices could delay ownership target for those who are still saving up to buy their first homes
- Attainability measures improved slightly last year amid a property market slump, compared with levels in Singapore, according to Urban Land Institute
By allowing local governments and state-owned enterprises to buy unsold land and housing from distressed developers, China is betting a property slump weighing down the economy can be stopped once and for all.
Consumer and entrepreneur confidence should ‘continue to pick up from this point’ as Beijing’s efforts strengthen the capital markets and enhance Hong Kong’s connector role, say speakers at the Greater China Private Equity Summit.
China left benchmark lending rates unchanged on Monday having last week announced ‘historic’ steps to stabilise its crisis-hit property sector.
Economist Richard Koo’s theories influenced Western policy decisions after the global financial crisis, and now he has strong words for Chinese policymakers on the need for fiscal stimulus to ward off a ‘balance-sheet recession’.
Recovery in China’s luxury home market is gaining pace, while recent measures by the government could help turn around the fortunes of the property industry.
New measures certainly show desire ‘to put a floor under the property slump’ ahead of third plenary session in July, but focus certain to be on ‘new productive forces’, observer says.
The mainland has US$3.9 trillion worth of unsold properties, which makes Beijing’s funding plan account for less than 2 per cent of that excess inventory, a Barclays report said.
The developer sold 203 units out of 213 on offer at Yoho Hub II in Yuen Long as of 5pm on Saturday.
Property investment in China fell again in the first four months of the year and retail sales growth cooled in April, but industrial output remained strong last month, data released on Friday showed.
Beijing has announced 300 billion-yuan in funds to help clear excess housing inventory, as well as measures to ensure developers have access to financing and that homes are delivered on time.
He Lifeng stressed the need to ‘carry on the battle’ to surmount the risks that unfinished and unconstructed homes represent, as the health of the property market is tied closely to social wellness and economic development.
Another set of weak housing market data for April underscores the urgency among officials in Beijing to stem the crisis and rescue some of the nation’s biggest yet cash-strapped developers.
A High Court in Hong Kong has adjourned the hearing on a winding-up petition against Country Garden to June 11, giving the developer more time to reorganise its finances as Beijing steps up efforts to revive the housing market.
China’s property investment fall accelerated in the first four months of the year, while retail sales growth slowed in April, data released on Friday showed.
With household debt at worrisome levels, curbing consumption and China’s economic recovery, Beijing is interjecting in the largely unregulated process with new guidelines for issuing loans and collecting arrears.
Developer stocks rose on Thursday after authorities in Hangzhou announced plans to buy unsold homes, but analysts question whether such aid is the best way to rescue the market.
Authorities in Hangzhou, the capital of China’s Zhejiang province, are planning to buy homes and rent them at affordable rates, to reduce inventory and boost sales.
Agile says it ‘will not be able to fulfil all payment obligations under its offshore debts’ because of liquidity pressure. Presales declined 68 per cent year on year to US$905 million from January to April.
China’s shock credit contraction is adding pressure on the government to spend more money – and on the central bank to help.
Travel spending during the Labour Day holiday rose 12.7 per cent year on year, but hotel chains’ revenue per available room and occupancy rates both fell.
‘Beijing is finally on the right course to clean up the mess in the property sector,’ Nomura analysts said on Friday.
UBS may start rewarding its bankers for referring clients to the firm’s wealth management business, in a first for the Zurich-based lender
Local governments in China are exploring the use of data as an asset to help reduce their heavy debt burdens, but this has prompted concerns over efficacy and legality.
Hangzhou’s move marks the most aggressive measure to revive the local housing market, following an apparent green light from the nation’s top leadership last month.
Developer puts another noncore asset on the chopping block to bolster its liquidity and appease creditors, part of its three-pronged strategy to overcome a financial crisis.
Shenzhen and Wuhan have become the latest Chinese cities to ease home purchase restrictions to boost sales, as a growing number of major metropolises take steps to support the country’s slumping property sector.
