China's residential land supply increases 113% in first half

Positive changes took place in China's land market in the first half of 2010, and the supply of land for all kinds of uses, especially land for real estate development, witnessed considerable growth. Meanwhile, the average selling prices of land for residential and industrial uses both dropped.

The land supply in eastern regions still accounted for the majority of the national total, though the land supply in central regions experienced rapid growth. Thanks to the gradual implementation of the real estate macro-control policies, the overall situation of the land market is now steady. The overheated parts of the market have cooled, and the market structure has been further optimized.

According to sources, the total land supply in China's 31 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities reached 1,790 square kilometers in the first half, up over 65 percent from a year earlier. The share of land for industrial use, mining, and storing goods and materials in the total land supply dropped 8.3 percentage points from the first half of last year, while the shares of land for real estate development and other uses grew 6.3 percentage points and 2 percentage points, respectively.

In the first half of 2010, the land supply for real estate development rose by more than 98 percent from last year. The supply of land for commercial and residential use increased by more than 64 percent and nearly 113 percent, respectively. In addition, the supply of land used to build low-income housing increased over 99 percent compared to the first half of 2009.

Land supply increased in 30 out of 36 key cities from the first half of last year, and 28 cities experienced growth in the supply of land for building low-income housing compared with the same period of last year. In the wake of the gradual implementation of real estate control policies, China’s land market has cooled, and the land supply is going down quarter by quarter. The average selling price of land for real estate development, commercial use and residential use in the second quarter dropped 5 percent, over 17 percent and nearly 11 percent, respectively, compared to the first quarter.

China's partly overheated land market has cooled and gradually stabilized thanks to the smooth progress of its macro-economy and the effective implementation of a series of real estate control policies. Although the country’s total supply of land for residential use greatly increased in the first half, more and more investors have begun taking a wait-and-see approach on the land market.

By People's Daily Online

http://paper.people.com.cn/rmrb/html/2010-07/28/nw.D110000renmrb_20100728_1-15.htm?div=-1