SHANGHAI - URBAN property prices in China gained further momentum in August, with stronger growth in sales and investment, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday.
Property prices in 70 big and mid-size cities in China rose two percent last month from a year earlier, and 0.9 per cent from July, the statistics bureau said in a report published on its website.
Year-on-year growth in real estate investment also gained pace, rising 14.7 per cent in the January to August period, up 3.1 percentage points from January-July, it said.
Beijing has introduced a series of measures since October, including tax breaks, to support the real estate sector, which accounts for more than 20 per cent of urban fixed investments, a key driver of China's economic recovery.
Some economists are concerned that funds have flooded into stock and real estate markets, instead of helping the real economy, as companies seek to use stimulus bank loans to make quick profits.
Analysts also warned property prices could face a major correction if the government has to make aggressive moves to prevent asset bubble build-ups.
New bank loans in July were already sharply down from record highs seen in the first half of the year.
However, the latest figure showed property sales in value terms rose 69.9 per cent on-year in the first eight months of the year, up from 60.4 per cent in January-July, indicating the slowdown in new lending has not hurt the sector. -- AFP
Source, Straits Times, 10 Sep 2009
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