Chinesepod - Real estate investment surges 28.5% in 1st half

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BIZCHINA / Center

Real estate investment surges 28.5% in 1st half

By Hao Zhou (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2007-08-01 17:41

A total of 988.7 billion yuan (US$130.7 billion) was poured to the real
estate market in the first half this year, up 28.5 percent from the same
period of last year, according to statistics from the National
Development and Reform Commission.

Of the total investment, some 695.5 billion yuan was injected into the
commercial house market, rising 30.8 percent year-on-year and 2.6
percentage points higher than the growth rate of the first half last year.

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Meanwhile, investment in economically affordable housing was 29.2 billion
yuan, 4.2 percent of the total housing investment, a 34.4 percent
increase year-on-year, and 7.2 percentage points lower than the growth
rate in the first quarter this year.

By the end of June, there were 124 million square meters of available
commercial building space, up 2.3 percent from a year ago. Therein, 65.63
million square meters were commercial houses, a 2.3 percent decline
compared with the same period of last year.

In the first six months this year, overseas investment utilized by
domestic real estate developers and in personal mortgage loans also
surged rapidly.

A total of 1.56 trillion yuan was ready for real estate investment, up
27.8 percent year-on-year. Of that, domestic loans amounted to 345.5
billion yuan and 28.2 billion yuan was from overseas, up 25.9 percent and
68.7 percent year-on-year respectively.

At the same time, some 530.1 billion yuan was financed by developers
themselves, a 28.4 percent rise year-on-year. The remaining 658 billion
yuan was procured in other ways, including through personal mortgage
loans, which grew 56.6 percent to a total 170.2 billion yuan.

From January to June, a total 279 million square meters of commercial
building areas were sold, an increase of 21.5 percent year-on-year, 8.7
percentage points higher than the first quarter.

In terms of building functions, some 254 million square meters were
commercial houses, another 5.44 million square meters were office
buildings, and the remaining 16.56 million square meters were for
multiple business purposes, up 22.5 percent, 21.6 percent, and 5.8
percent respectively.

Meanwhile, there were 1.71 billion square meters buildings under
construction, surging 21.9 percent from a year earlier. Some 1.34 billion
square meters were for residential houses, up 22.9 percent year-on-year,
and 449 million square meters were newly opened projects, up 18.4 percent.

Of the total newly opened projects, 375 million square meters were for
residential houses, up 20.9 percent. Meanwhile, newly completed buildings
totaled 149 million square meters of buildings, an 11.1 percent increase
year-on-year, and 1.7 percentage points higher than the first quarter.

(For more biz stories, please visit Industry Updates)

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