Home prices in major cities in China surged by over a fifth in 2010, after repeated government efforts to moderate the red-hot property sector, according to private research.
Residential prices rose the fastest in Hangzhou by 47.1 percent, followed by 37.9 percent and 37.1 percent in Chongqing and Beijing respectively, according to the China Real Estate Index System (CREIS), run by China’s biggest online real estate company, Soufun.
By contrast, figures from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that home pries grew only 2.4 percent, 7.9 percent and 9.1 percent in Hangzhou, Chongqing and Beijing respectively, in the year to November.
“The CREIS data is closer to actual market performance,” said Chen Dong, a real estate analyst at BOC International in Shanghai.
Data from CREIS also showed sharp declines in numbers of real estate transactions last year from 2009, by 39.8 percent, 40.2 percent and 50 percent in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen respectively.
This has led to an increasing stock of unsold residential units in several Chinese cities. The stock in Beijing reached 101,592 units as of January 6, compared with the 111,048 transactions last year.
The rising stock, along with easing expectations on real estate inflation and government tightening measures, will likely impede home price inflation this year.
“There is not much upward momentum in property price this year, particularly in the first half,” said Mr. Chen.