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China's housing prices climb in May
Source: Bloomberg News |
June 2, 2011, Thursday
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CHINA'S home prices rose for the ninth straight month in May as smaller cities withstood government efforts to curb risks of asset bubbles, according to SouFun Holdings Ltd.
Home prices gained 0.5 percent in May from April, the nation's biggest real estate website owner said in a statement yesterday. Residential prices rose in 76 out of 100 cities tracked by SouFun, with average home values nationwide climbing to 8,819 yuan (US$1,361) a square meter.
The government said last month that it will maintain property curbs after it raised the minimum down payment for second-home purchases this year and introduced residential property taxes in Shanghai and Chongqing. The central bank has raised interest rates four times and increased banks' reserve requirements eight times since October.
"Home-price growth remained at a steady pace and was higher than we expected," said Johnson Hu, a Hong Kong-based property analyst at CIMB-GK Securities Research Pte. "Hot money went to the periphery of big cities, where policies are not so strict. Prices there will hold up pretty well this year."
Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, posted a 3 percent gain from April, the biggest advance, while values in the mid-sized eastern city of Dezhou fell 1.6 percent, the sharpest fall among the 100 cities surveyed, Soufun said. Home prices in Shanghai rose 0.3 percent and gained 0.2 percent in Beijing last month.
There are signs the government's policies are taking effect, according to Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. The percentage of investors in primary sales is at an all-time low, while home prices are advancing at a slower pace than income growth, the property brokerage and consultant said.
"Some aspects of the policies are working, at least from the government's perspective," said Michael Klibaner, Shanghai-based head of China research at Jones Lang LaSalle. "But you are still bottling up the pressures from the market, and prices will go back again quickly if you remove the restrictions."
A property tax may be expanded nationwide, Xinhua news agency said on Sunday.
Home prices gained 0.5 percent in May from April, the nation's biggest real estate website owner said in a statement yesterday. Residential prices rose in 76 out of 100 cities tracked by SouFun, with average home values nationwide climbing to 8,819 yuan (US$1,361) a square meter.
The government said last month that it will maintain property curbs after it raised the minimum down payment for second-home purchases this year and introduced residential property taxes in Shanghai and Chongqing. The central bank has raised interest rates four times and increased banks' reserve requirements eight times since October.
"Home-price growth remained at a steady pace and was higher than we expected," said Johnson Hu, a Hong Kong-based property analyst at CIMB-GK Securities Research Pte. "Hot money went to the periphery of big cities, where policies are not so strict. Prices there will hold up pretty well this year."
Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, posted a 3 percent gain from April, the biggest advance, while values in the mid-sized eastern city of Dezhou fell 1.6 percent, the sharpest fall among the 100 cities surveyed, Soufun said. Home prices in Shanghai rose 0.3 percent and gained 0.2 percent in Beijing last month.
There are signs the government's policies are taking effect, according to Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. The percentage of investors in primary sales is at an all-time low, while home prices are advancing at a slower pace than income growth, the property brokerage and consultant said.
"Some aspects of the policies are working, at least from the government's perspective," said Michael Klibaner, Shanghai-based head of China research at Jones Lang LaSalle. "But you are still bottling up the pressures from the market, and prices will go back again quickly if you remove the restrictions."
A property tax may be expanded nationwide, Xinhua news agency said on Sunday.
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