There has been fear of a bubble growing in China’s property market but as property prices fell in some of China’s top and second-tier cities this month, the fears may be slightly allayed as it seems to indicate that the curbs which authorities have put in place are starting to work.
Property analysts have however reported a change in focus for some mainland buyers to Hong Kong as skyrocketing property prices and cooling measures put some off.
The property market in China is one of the country’s main source of revenue growth, and while the authorities may want to prevent a bubble from bursting, they are also put to task to keep the economy alive. China’s economic growth of 6.7 per cent in Q3 was largely dependent on its real estate industry. Recent curbs include larger down payments and restrictions on multiple property ownerships. But the low interest rates offered by China banks have kept the buyers coming. Though the rates have remained unchanged since October 2015, it has been cut 6 times prior.
While new home prices in Beijing fell 3.7 per cent and 2.5 per cent in Shanghai, some may consider this a market cooling. But the average new home prices across 70 cities have shown a record surge last month, the highest in 7 years, with a 1.8 per cent rise from August.
