China property market cools down fast

World Today

China’s once hot property market is showing signs of cooling a little too much.

For many years, home prices in China were defying the laws of gravity despite government campaign to cool the market. These efforts started to bear fruit at the end of 2013 and now some are worried the property market may have cooled off a little too much. Prices of new homes in 288 cities in the country fell in June for a third month in a row, according to a survey by real estate firm E-House China Holdings. Official figures showed that real estate prices fell for the first time in two years.

Both official or private surveys suggest that China’s property market is indeed cooling off. That could spell trouble for some developers and the banks that lend to them. With sales slowing down as well, more and more Chinese cities, especially smaller ones, actually trying to prop up the market by easing home buying restrictions. But the real estate market still remains red hot in major cities like Shanghai and Beijing.

China’s real estate sector accounts for about 15% of China’s economy and is the country’s biggest wild card in terms of growth, according to some analysts. The country’s property sector also directly affects some 40 other industries. In fact, China’s central banks recently ordered commercial banks to quicken mortgage lending and as I mentioned earlier an increasing number of cities in the country are either lifting or loosening home purchase restrictions to help reverse the trend of cooling prices.

For more on the Chinese housing market, CCTV America spoke to Gwynn Guilford, a reporter and editor for Quartz.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong business mogul Li Ka-Shing is known for his massive investments in both in commercial and residential real estate.
His Cheung Kong center is one of the city’s most recognized buildings. Now he’s going small scale and his latest projects are selling fast.
Cathy Yang reports.