China Times reported on 24 May 2010 that economic planning body the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has no plans to introduce measures to further control China’s property market. This does not surprise analysts, who point to recent cooling in the market as an indication that earlier measures are working and more are not needed. “The property market responded promptly to the tightening policies, with a drop seen in home sales” Liu Yuan of Shanghai-based Centaline China Property Research Center was quoted by Peoples’ Daily Online as saying.
What is Happening to the Chinese Housing Market?
Notwithstanding the strong government message about the dangers of an ongoing housing boom in China, there are some confusing signals on the state of and immediate propects for its property market. On 26 May, Chris Oliver of Hong Kong’s MarketWatch opened a report on the matter by writing “filtering out the noise is half the battle for stock market investors in China these days.” The same applies tor the people of China seeking to enter or expand their interests in the housing market.
Since mid-April there have been a series of measures aimed at dampening the market in a controlled fashion. It started when the Ministry of Land and Resources’ land supply plan for 2010 was issued. That signalled assistance for those at the lower end of the socio-economic spectrum, with a significant increase in the land supply for small to medium-sized dwellings.