China’s economic growth slows to 7.6% – and more of today’s China Real Estate Links | July 16, 2012

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

• China’s economic growth slows to 7.6%

  China said its economy grew 7.6% in the second quarter compared with a year earlier. It was the weakest pace of expansion in three years but in line with analysts’ expectations. Declining investment in real estate and infrastructure as well as shrinking exports to Europe and the U.S. have contributed to the slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy.

• Cushman Report Says Luxury Retail Drives Real Estate Market

  Aggressive expansion by luxury and fast-fashion brands in China is driving the country’s retail property investment market, according to the latest report released on Thursday.
  A report by Cushman & Wakefield, the privately held commercial real estate services company, said rapid growth in the second half in consumer expenditure and surging enthusiasm for luxury brands, are pushing up demand for retail property, especially in Beijing and Shanghai.

• China’s retail sales up 13.7% in June

  China’s retail sales grew 13.7 percent year-on-year in June, slightly down from 13.8 percent in May, the National Bureau of Statistics said Friday.After adjusting for inflation, the reading was 12.1 percent.In the first six months, retail sales rose 14.4 percent to 9.82 trillion yuan ($1.56 trillion). The figure was 11.2 percent after adjusting for inflation, 2.4 percentage points lower than the figure for the same period a year ago.

• UK’s top health food retailer opens stores in China

  Holland & Barrett, the UK’s biggest health food retailer, entered the Chinese market for the first time by opening two franchise stores in Shanghai on Thursday.Tapping into China’s burgeoning health supplement sector demand, Holland & Barrett hopes to open another 16 stores later this year, and more than 500 stores within 5 years’ time.”We will start form Shanghai, and go to all over China in the future. Our target is to become the No. 1 brand for health living in China,” said Harvey Kamil, vice chairman of NBTC, parent company of Holland & Barrett.

• China property sales see positive growth for first time in 8 months

  China’s real estate investment growth slowed sharply in the first half, dragging down the broad economy, but property sales swung into positive growth in June for the first time in eight months, boding well for a recovery in the sector which could ease concerns about a hard landing of the world’s No 2 economy.Real estate investment, which affects more than 40 other sectors from cement, steel to furniture, grew 16.6 percent in January-June of 2012, versus an annual rise of 32.9 percent in the same period last year, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Friday.

• China Slowdown Bad for Plaid – Burberry Sales Dive on Economic Slump

  Britain’s Burberry provided more evidence of China’s economic slowdown on Wednesday when the luxury goods company reported a decline in first quarter sales growth.But Burberry said its growth opportunity in China remained huge, even though first quarter growth in retail revenue from the country dropped to “mid-teens” percent versus growth of about 20 percent in the second half of last year.

• Last Plot of Land in Beijing Fetches a Fortune as Developers Jump into Auctions

  The Chinese government earned an additional 2.63 billion yuan or roughly $413. 17 million after it sold off the remaining land plot allocated for a residential area in Haidian district, Beijing.In spite the tough existing property regulations, China’s top property companies including China Vanke and Poly, scrambled for the last plot for residential homes auctioned on Tuesday.

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