DEMAND WON'T GO AWAY

As a under-unbanized country, China unveiled a plan in March aiming to lift the urbanization rate to 60 percent by 2020, a blueprint that it is believed will unleash long-term home-buying demand.

Regional integration such as the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei metropolitan economic circle will also contribute to long-term growth of the market.@ With China's urbanization drive progressing, Chinese property developers now have a new mission -- to design and serve cities in an urbanized approach, said Liu Xiaoguang, CEO of Beijing Capital Group, a property conglomerate.

"Don't call us 'property developers.' We should try to be 'community designers,' offering comprehensive services to improve residence comfort," said Pan Jun, president and CEO of Fantasia Holdings Group, a pioneer and veteran in offering smart property management for self-sufficient communities.

Meanwhile, the second-hand property market is assuming more importance in China as home ownership surged in the past decade, according to Fan, who noted that this mirrors trends abroad.

Agent commission, promotion and accompanying services such as legal consultation can become a new cash cow for developers, he believes.