China Real Estate Wrap for the Week of 23 July 2010

July 23 – New property price sacross 36 mainland cities roe 0.74% to ¥8,542/m2 in June from May, according to the National Development and Reform Commission.

July 22 – 32.3% of the residential properties in Beijing were bought by those who do not have a Beijing household registration. Over 7.6 million of the city's 19.7 million population are migrant workers, according to the latest figures.

July 22 – Home sales in Beijing tumbled 34.6% to 404,000m2 in June compared to May, according to the local statistics bureau.

July 22 – Sales of luxury residences in Shanghai (¥50,000/m2 or above; $1 = ¥6.8) totaled 214 units in Q2 2010, up 57% on Q1 2010 and 47% on Q2 2009, according to Shanghai Deovolente Realty.

July 22 – Housing prices in China will rise only 2% in 2010 after a slump in 2H, predicted Philip Securities.

July 21 – Home sales in Henan provincial capital Zhengzhou totaled 4.42 million m2 in floor space at an average of ¥5,085/m2 in 1H 2010, according to the local land resource authority.

July 21 – Hong Kong people spent ¥8.4 billion purchasing mainland properties in 1H 2010, down 9% from the same period last year, according to LandPower. They bought up to 8,900 properties, down 29% year-on-year.

July 21 – The Ministry of Finance has preliminarily decided to impose property tax in 2012, according to insiders.

July 20 – Overall property sales in Zhejiang declined 12.4% in floor space and grew 6.6% in turnover in 1H 2010 compared to a year ago, according to the provincial statistics bureau.

July 20 – The China Banking Regulator Commission called on local authorities to toughen assessment of property loans to make sure the government's policies targeting speculation are carried out as required.

July 19 – Home sales totaled 80,000m2 at ¥18,367/m2 in Shanghai in the week through 18 July 2010, up 33% and down 2% week-on-week respectively, according to Youwin.com.cn.

July 19 – Morgan Stanley Real Estate Fund sold a service apartment block of 284 units in Shanghai to JPMorgan Greater China Property Fund for ¥1.2 billion.

July 18 – An average household in Beijing needs 25 years of incomes to buy an average 90m2 apartment, based on 2009 figures, according to a report by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Beijing University of Technology.

July 17 – The Chinese government has earmarked ¥60 billion for building 5.8 million affordable apartments this year.