Residential property prices dropped by 5.2 percent from last year in the first half of this year, due partly to government policies to cool the market and commercial banks tightening control of mortgages, according to a report from Shanghai Statistics Bureau issued yesterday.

 

The rapid increase in property investments also slowed down to close at 45.33 billion yuan (US$5.67 billion) in the first five months. According to the report, this is down by 0.2 percent from last year.

 

Market analysts said property developers are facing decreasing loans from more cautious local banks and government controls on future development.

 

"The decline in both the property prices and property investments show that the impact of the government's policies to cool the market has taken shape," said Zhang Tao, an analyst with Centaline(China) Shanghai Property Research Centre.

 

"Many customers anticipating a big price cut in the property market are stopping purchases and pressing property developers to lower the price of new residential housing," Zhang said.

 

New residential housing prices dropped by 5.4 percent in June from the same period last year, a report from the National Development and Reform Commission said yesterday.

 

New residential housing in the areas outside the Outer Ring Road, far from downtown, saw prices down by 10.5 percent from May to last month, and nearly 40 percent of the new residential buildings launched last month do not yet have buyers.

 

Despite the price cut, new housing sales, which have been declining since last December, have not rebounded.

 

Sales of new residential properties plummeted to 1.67 million square meters last month from this May, down by 31 percent, according to a report from Centaline.

 

Property agents saw sales in June down by 70 percent from May, according to a report from Shanghai Online Trade Centre.

 

While residential housing declines in price and sales, condos in downtown areas and Pudong remain robust, up by 0.2 percent in June from last month, because land reserves are becoming increasingly scarce.

 

Market analysts said the residential property prices will steady in the second half year but forecasted a large decline in property sales over the coming six months.

 

(China Daily July 21, 2006)