Statistics

The rise and fall of property prices in Beijing

By Shen Jingting (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-07-01 10:40

The average price of secondhand properties in Beijing reached a record high in the first half of this year, but it is expected to drop around 10 percent during the next six months.

In a report issued by Beijing Homelink Real Estate Brokerage Co, a leading property agency in the capital, in the first half of 2010, the average price of secondhand property was 19,183 yuan ($2,828.4) per sq m, a jump of 62.8 percent over the same period last year.

However, it was a rollercoaster experience for Beijing's secondhand property market from January to June. In March, the average price soared by 2,004 yuan per sq m over the previous month, making it largest rise in history, while in May, the price plummeted by 1,549 yuan per sq m, the biggest fall in history.

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The trading volume was down, however. There were only 98,000 secondhand units sold in the first six months, dropping from 101,164 units in the same period last year.

Fifty-eight percent of purchasers chose a one-off payment to buy apartments after the municipal government issued rules to rein in housing market in April, a 19 percent rise over the pre-policy number.

The report expected property prices would continue to fall in the second half of the year, decreasing by 9 percent to 13 percent over the first six months, the average price dropping to around 17,500 yuan per sq m.