For Empty Offices in China, It’s All About Location – and more of Today’s China Real Estate Links | April 16, 2013

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

• For Empty Offices in China, It’s All About Location

  There is something sad about the traffic lights blinking over empty boulevards in brand new “business districts” all over China – places that have all the makings of a thriving commercial center except… well, actual businesses.

  The empty malls and office buildings, waiting for someone to move in, are visible reminders that local governments and their developer pals often build first and ask questions later.

• China March property investment slows, sales strong

  China’s real estate investment growth slowed in the first quarter, dragging down the broad economic recovery, though property sales remained strong, pushing up home prices and prompting policymakers to tighten property policies.

  Real estate investment, which was worth 11 percent of GDP in first quarter of 2013 and directly impacts around 40 other business sectors, rose 20.2 percent in the first three months of 2013 from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday.

• Experts seek targeted property market policies

  When Zheng Zheng renewed her rental contract for an apartment in Beijing, she could do nothing but accept the 500-yuan (80 US dollars) rent increase suggested by her landlord.

  “My landlord was determined. There was no room for bargaining,” Zheng said.

  On March 1, the government rolled out a regulatory plan to tighten control over the sizzling property market, including a new capital gains tax as high as 20 percent on secondhand home sales and higher down payments for second-home buyers.

This list is updated daily, so tune in again tomorrow for more up to date information.