Land sales in 10 major China cities soared in Jan – and more of today’s China real estate links | February 5, 2013

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

• Land sales in 10 major China cities soared in Jan

  Land sales in China’s 10 major cities more than doubled in the first month of 2013, fueled by the property developers’ improved cash flow and expectations of a rosy real estate market this year.

  Ten key cities tracked by Shanghai E-house Real Estate Research Institute saw land sales fees of 56.2 billion yuan ($8.9 billion) in January, up 263 percent year-on-year, the institute’s data showed on Sunday.

  The land area sold in those cities last month was 26 million square meters, an increase of 77 percent year-on-year.

• China Office Rents Slowing Down Says CBRE

  Office vacancy rates in China will continue to rise in 2013, with rents under pressure after skyrocketing over the past few years, industry experts said.

  International real estate service provider CBRE expects new office supply will remain abundant this year, most of it coming from emerging areas.

  “Over the next few quarters, rents will be under some pressure – especially for offices located in newly developed areas,” said Frank Chen, executive director of CBRE.

• China corruption fire sale: limited time only!

  China’s crackdown on corruption has spawned a new trend in the country’s real estate market: panic sale advertising.

  “Civil servant is anxious, anxious, anxious!” screams one ad (pictured below). “Landlord faces asset investigation, desperate to sell” is the hook for another. A third reads: “Official anxious to dump property. First come first served. Five units in all. All are excellent. Absolutely great value.

  But as with any marketing ploys, potential buyers would do well to ask themselves whether the claims made by sellers are actually true.

This list is updated daily, so tune in again tomorrow for more up to date information, or subscribe to our daily email news digest to get this delivered to your mailbox.