By Hao Zhou (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2007-08-01 17:41

A total of 988.7 billion yuan (US$130.7 billion) was poured to the real estate market in the first half this year, up 28.5 percent from the same period of last year, according to statistics from the National Development and Reform Commission.

Of the total investment, some 695.5 billion yuan was injected into the commercial house market, rising 30.8 percent year-on-year and 2.6 percentage points higher than the growth rate of the first half last year.

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Meanwhile, investment in economically affordable housing was 29.2 billion yuan, 4.2 percent of the total housing investment, a 34.4 percent increase year-on-year, and 7.2 percentage points lower than the growth rate in the first quarter this year.

By the end of June, there were 124 million square meters of available commercial building space, up 2.3 percent from a year ago. Therein, 65.63 million square meters were commercial houses, a 2.3 percent decline compared with the same period of last year.

In the first six months this year, overseas investment utilized by domestic real estate developers and in personal mortgage loans also surged rapidly.

A total of 1.56 trillion yuan was ready for real estate investment, up 27.8 percent year-on-year. Of that, domestic loans amounted to 345.5 billion yuan and 28.2 billion yuan was from overseas, up 25.9 percent and 68.7 percent year-on-year respectively.

At the same time, some 530.1 billion yuan was financed by developers themselves, a 28.4 percent rise year-on-year. The remaining 658 billion yuan was procured in other ways, including through personal mortgage loans, which grew 56.6 percent to a total 170.2 billion yuan.

From January to June, a total 279 million square meters of commercial building areas were sold, an increase of 21.5 percent year-on-year, 8.7 percentage points higher than the first quarter.

In terms of building functions, some 254 million square meters were commercial houses, another 5.44 million square meters were office buildings, and the remaining 16.56 million square meters were for multiple business purposes, up 22.5 percent, 21.6 percent, and 5.8 percent respectively.

Meanwhile, there were 1.71 billion square meters buildings under construction, surging 21.9 percent from a year earlier. Some 1.34 billion square meters were for residential houses, up 22.9 percent year-on-year, and 449 million square meters were newly opened projects, up 18.4 percent.

Of the total newly opened projects, 375 million square meters were for residential houses, up 20.9 percent. Meanwhile, newly completed buildings totaled 149 million square meters of buildings, an 11.1 percent increase year-on-year, and 1.7 percentage points higher than the first quarter.