As of May 25 this year, land sales revenues in 50 major Chinese cities amounted to RMB 1.6 trillion ($0.22 trillion), up 12.0 percent year on year, with the revenue in 27 cities exceeding RMB 20.0 billion ($2.8 billion) and the revenue in 49 cities exceeding RMB 10.0 billion ($1.4 billion), all reaching historically high levels, according to Centaline Group, a Shanghai-based real estate research institute. Meanwhile, land sales revenues in three cities, Beijing, Hangzhou and Shanghai, exceeded RMB 100.0 billion ($14.0 billion).
Market analysts said that the more relaxed financial environment provided support for real estate developers to buy land. Meanwhile, land in good areas put up for sale by local governments attracted developers’ interest. The market analysts forecast that land sales revenues in the second quarter of the year will likely remain at high levels, while competition in bidding for land will be more intense in the first-tier and second-tier cities.
The margins between land sales prices (via auction) and land cost prices rose to 16.0 percent in April, up 3.8 percentage points compared to March, reaching their highest level since July last year, as announced by CRIC, a real estate research institute of E-House, a Shanghai-based real estate transaction service provider. Meanwhile, the margins surged to 26 percent during the week from May 11 to May 17, hitting the highest level so far this year, reflecting real estate developers’ eagerness to purchase land, even at higher prices.
$1 = RMB 7.1315