China must keep house costs down, Wen says – and more of Today’s China Real Estate Links | July 9, 2012

Here is a list of the day’s latest China real estate news collected from around the web:

• China must keep house costs down, Wen says

  Premier Wen Jiabao said on Saturday that the government will resolutely implement real estate market regulation and commit itself for the long-term to curbing speculation, Xinhua News Agency reported.
  Wen said housing market regulation is still at a critical stage and remains a tough task when he visited Changzhou, in East China’s Jiangsu province, for inspection and fact-finding on Saturday, Xinhua said.

• China’s Developers Surge After Interest Rate Cut

  China’s property shares rose the most in four months after the nation’s central bank cut interest rates for the second time in a month to bolster the country’s economic growth.The gauge tracking developers on the Shanghai Composite Index added 3.5 percent, the most since March and the biggest gain among five industry groups on the benchmark, at the close of trading.

• Home sales hit highest in 17 months

  SHANGHAI’S existing property sales soared to the highest in 17 months in June as buying sentiment among home seekers improved.The purchases of previously owned properties, most being residential developments, jumped 20.3 percent from May to 19,300 units, Century 21 China Real Estate said in a report yesterday.

• Vanke topped turnover rank in first half 2012

  China Vanke Co Ltd issued an announcement on Wednesday saying it had 62.54 billion yuan ($9.8 billion) in revenue in the first half of 2012. The figure was highest among those reported by all developers in China, according to a recent sales report.In June alone, the developer had 13.32 billion yuan in revenue, up 24.25 percent from May. Each of the four leading Chinese real estate developers had more than 10 billion yuan in revenue in May and June, showing that the market is warming up after undergoing a year of gloom, according to a report named 2012 Half-Year Estate Developers Sales Top 50, which was released by China Real Estate Information Corp and China Real Estate Appraisal Center on Monday.

• Apple’s future could hinge on adding China stores

  Apple (AAPL) has marched from strength to strength in recent years, hitting one product home run after another. But the company does face a major challenge in one critical area, according to Reuters: penetrating China. Although Apple retail division chief Ron Johnson predicted in 2010 that the company would have 25 stores in the People’s Republic by now, to date it has only opened six, split among Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. And it has no stores in other major cities.

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