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Current house prices still high for middle class
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CNTV, July 14, 2011
After a slew of government tightening measures, China's property sector showed signs of slowing down. CCTV reporter Zou Yun takes a look at China's housing market in the first half of this year, and the financing difficulties that property developers are facing.
Ever since the end of last year, the Chinese government has been implementing a slew of measures - including higher down payments for mortgages and purchase restrictions - to cool the property market and curb speculation.
Even though the tightening measures didn't result in a significant drop in home prices, there have been obvious signs of home sales declining in major cities.
Take Beijing as an example. Figures show that about 43 thousand houses were sold in the first half of this year, down 15.7 percent compared with the same period last year. Analysts say the tightening measures have been effective to some degree, but there should be a more of a drop in home prices.
Li Wei, economist of Standard Chartered Bank, said, "I think the measures are effective in terms of slowing down the excessive growth of home prices and curbing speculation. But current house prices are still high for middle class families to afford, compared with their wage levels. But there hasn't been a reasonable drop of home prices, like 10 to 20 percent, to make it acceptable to wage earners."
Meanwhile, as the government's tightening policies continue and market activity remains sluggish, around 20 to 30 percent of listed property developers are facing more financing pressure than ever.
China's property industry is also taking a beating from six bank reserve requirement ratio hikes this year, and three interest rates so far this year. Experts say the latest rate rise shows the central government's tough stance on the property market is unchanged.
Yin Zhongli, researcher of Institute of Finance & Banking, said, "The rate hike adds more pressure for borrowers to repay their loans, so it's certainly bad news for the property market. It will definitely curb the development of the real estate sector, which is showing some signs of cooling down."
Some analysts and experts are starting to forecast declines in home prices and rebound of sales in the second half of this year, with growing expectation the government will not relax its policy stance and a large amount of government-subsidized houses will pour onto the market.
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