China's property sector slows as uncertainty, credit curbs bite
18/8/2008 17:51
Property investment has slowed in China since mid-year, both in value and
land area, amid tighter credit and buyers' uncertainty, official statistics
released today's show.
The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said that
between January and July, investment in real estate development totaled 1.588
trillion yuan (US$231.55 billion), up 30.9 percent year-on-year. However, the
rate of increase was 2.6 percentage points less than the first-half
level.
Spending on residential projects was 1.149 trillion yuan, up 33.7
percent but 2.8 percentage points lower than in the first half alone.
The
total included 45.9 billion yuan in low-income housing, up 25.2 percent but 6
percentage points less than in the first half.
In the first seven months, 148
million square meters of land went under development, up 4.2 percent
year-on-year. However, the growth rate was 5.7 percentage points lower than in
the first half.
About 2.229 billion sq m of housing were under construction
during the January-July period, up 22.5 percent. Yet again, the growth rate
slowed from the first half, by 1.6 percentage points.
Previously, the central
bank has reported that first-half lending to real estate developers and home
buyers was 398.84 billion yuan, down 170.66 billion yuan from a year
earlier.
Since the end of September, when China tightened credit for those
buying more than one apartment, demand has ebbed. Additionally, price falls in
some cities have made prospective buyers wary.
Developers sold about 260
million sq m of housing in the first six months with a value of 1 trillion yuan,
representing decreases of 7.2 percent and 3 percent year-on-year,
respectively.
The NBS also said that between January and July, 129 million sq
m of commercial property was vacant, up 6.1 percent. This was one of the few
cases where the growth rate rose from the first half; in this case, by 3.9
percentage points.
Xinhua
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