Developer Greentown China splashes out in Shanghai – and more of Today’s China Real Estate Links | March 19, 2013

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

• Developer Greentown China splashes out in Shanghai

  Greentown China (3900) has made its largest investment since being acquired by Wharf Holdings (0004) last year , splashing out to acquire a development in Shanghai.
  The Hangzhou-based developer and Sunac (1918) – its 50-50 joint venture partner – said they will buy a project in Huangpu district for 9.02 billion yuan (HK$11.28 billion).

  The 113,842-square-meter plot will accommodate apartments and commercial units, boasting a total floor space of 724,439 sq m. The duo will be paying 12,574 yuan per square meter.

• China Home Prices Up in Most Cities, Posing Policy Challenge

  China’s new home prices posted the broadest advance since December 2011, a test for new Premier Li Keqiang as he seeks to prevent a bubble without damping economic growth.
  Prices climbed in 62 cities of the 70 the government tracks in February from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said today. Beijing prices jumped 5.9 percent from a year earlier, the biggest since February 2011, while they advanced 8.1 percent in Guangzhou, the most since January 2011.

• Chinese investors buy up Sydney homes at inflated prices

  As many as one in six off-the-plan apartments in Sydney are snapped up by mainland Chinese investors.

  Michael Yardney from Metropole Property Strategists said local buyers may be caught out paying too much.

  “Overseas investors are pushing up prices for off-the-plan properties. If they weren’t making these sales, they would not be able to get the project off the ground. But on completion, the apartments are worth 7 to 12 per cent less than what the contract price was,” he said.

• China’s Economy Mirrors U.S. on Eve of Financial Crisis, Say Nomura

  The same three warning lights that preceded America’s real estate crash and financial crisis are now flashing over China, two economists say, leaving the government limited time to get out of trouble.

  In a research note published on Saturday, Nomura economists Zhiwei Zhang and Wendy Chen outline the way that elevated property prices, a rapid build-up of leverage and a slide in the country’s potential growth rate could lead to a systemic crisis.

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