| Home prices in major Chinese cities continued to grow, while the supply of residential land also increased, though at a slower pace, according to a real estate sector report published on Dec 8.
The report by China Indices Research Institute showed that average home prices increased in November in seven large cities. The highest jump was about 12 percent year-on-year in Hangzhou.
The number of homes available for sale was less than in previous years in most cities covered in the report, and the supply of new homes in Shanghai hit a record low since August 2007. The supply of homes available in Beijing, Chongqing, and Nanjing last month was the lowest this year, the report said.
Chen Huai, director of the policy research office of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Construction, told China Daily in an earlier report that helping supply enough land for housing is one way the government can help stabilize rapidly increasing property prices.
Guangzhou had the most residential land available among first-tier cities, with 3.31 million sq m, in November, up 154 percent from the previous year. That includes the Asian Games Town project, which will supply 2.94 million sq m of residential housing. Shenzhen has not yet planned any new residential areas for the upcoming fourth quarter.
In the 60 cities mentioned in the report, the total number of land transactions in which construction companies bought land from the government rose 3 percent to 1,011 in November, up 6 percent over the same period of last year. The total transacted land area was 55.31 million sq m, up 3 percent over October and 47 percent year-on-year. Transacted residential floor area grew in 18 of the large cities in the report.
"The less land supply, the higher property price," said Ren Zhiqiang, president of real estate company Hua Yuan Group.
"Many real estate companies have no land to construct on. To get business, companies have to bid to become the Land King," he told ce.cn recently. |
