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Property investments hit 3.6t yuan

By Xin Zhiming (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-22 07:56

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China invested a whopping 3.6 trillion yuan ($527.30 million) in the property market last year, a 16 percent year-on-year jump from 2008, the nation's top statistician said at a news conference yesterday.

While property development investments rose 16.1 percent, sales and construction starts slowed, Ma Jiantang, head of the National Bureau of Statistics, said.

Property sales were up 43 percent year-on-year in December, a major decline from the 100 percent leap in sales seen in November, according to figures from the bureau.

December housing starts rose 34 percent year-on-year, down from a staggering 194 percent in November.

China's top number cruncher has been closely monitoring quickly rising prices.

"My worry is real estate prices have risen exceptionally fast in certain cities and regions," said Ma.

But China's wild property-sector ride may be about to slow.

"No one should expect the continued acceleration of property activity following the sky-rocketing growth seen over the last few months," said Wang Tao, head of China economic research at UBS Securities.

And while December's growth was by no means weak, "do not expect to see a repeat of the growth figures that started in August 2009," Wang said in a UBS report.

According to a recent survey by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, up to 85 percent of those polled said they could not afford a home. The average house price in cities has exceeded the average family's affordability, the report stated.

Property related policy measures are expected to remain cautious in the coming months as the government attempts to slow down the rise in property prices, Wang said.