Housing prices & transactions up

It appears that despite government efforts, rising housing prices in China will not let up. Figures show that the most popular types of residential properties these days are small and medium sized.

Some property developers in Nanjing have hiked their prices by 1,000 yuan per square meter since February. They believe the price rise is mainly caused by the increasing number of home buyers.

Analyst said, "The whole market is heating up right now. Lots of home buyers have returned to the property sector following the Chinese New Year Holiday. Meanwhile, the existing market supply is very low. Indeed, the supply and demand equation is quite unbalanced. "

In Hangzhou, sales of previously-owned homes are bouncing back. Local property dealers in the city say their commission fees have already reached a total of 1-million yuan in March so far.

Property dealer said, "Our income for the whole month could reach 1.3 million yuan. The number will be a record high for us, maybe even a record high for Hangzhou."

Local property agencies have noted the difficulty of selling apartments in the first two months of the year. In March, however, their employees have sold at least 3 houses each. Figures show since the second half of March, transactions for existing homes located in Hangzhou's downtown areas averaged 100 units a day. The number reached over 200 during its peak.

Wang Hui, industry insider, said, "Most of the transactions were made by real home-buyers rather than investors. Most of the apartments were not large and cost between 1 to 1.2 million yuan."

Real estate agencies believe the pre-owned real estate market is warming up. Industry insiders point out that this is different from last year. Housing demand this year is mainly from people wanting to live in the homes themselves, rather than speculation.