China
        

From Chinese media

Higher incomes lead to surging home prices

Updated: 2011-04-29 16:24

By Hao Yan (chinadaily.com.cn)

Twitter Facebook Myspace Yahoo! Linkedin Mixx

Rising household incomes in China are contributing to the surge in housing prices, in addition to loose credit policies and the practice of local governments' fund raising through selling land, People's Daily reported Friday, quoting scholars.

Higher incomes gave residents stronger investment power, and real estate investments are a traditional choice among relatively well-off residents. But speculation resulted in prices exceed the value of the property, Professors Zeng Kangling and Lv Huirong of Southwestern University of Finance and Economics wrote in the comment published in the newspaper.

Related readings:
Higher incomes lead to surging home prices China inspects progress of home price curbs
Higher incomes lead to surging home prices Shanghai sets home prices controlling target at 8%
Higher incomes lead to surging home prices Developers urged to sell houses at marked prices
Higher incomes lead to surging home prices Affordable housing highlighted in curbing home prices

The scholars said accelerating construction of affordable housing construction will solve the residents' housing issue and also create a housing consumption pattern fitting the country's fundamentals.

The fiscal budgets of many local governments now largely rely on the land transfer fees that also boost housing prices. Because the economy was driven by foreign investments for a long period, local governments were eager to offer property to industries at low prices or for free. Residential housing lands are sold though bidding and compensate the loss in industrial lands deals, the scholars said.

Restraining skyrocketing housing price is all about changing the mode of economic development, city urbanization and industry development, according to the report. The trend of surging housing prices will not change unless there are changes to the country's industrial expansion mode of economic development and to the evaluation mechanism for local government officials, the scholars said.

E-paper

Head on

Chinese household care goods producers eye big cities, once stronghold of multinational players

Carving out a spot
Back onto center stage 
The Chinese recipe

European Edition

Specials

British Royal Wedding

Full coverage of the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in London. Best wishes

The final frontier

Xinjiang is a mysterious land of extremes that never falls to fascinate.

Bridging the gap

Tsinghua University attracts a cohort of foreign students wanting to come to China.

25 years after Chernobyl
Luxury car show
Peking Opera revival