China’s home prices recorded their first year-on-year increase in nine months last month, an independent survey showed yesterday, but it said a huge rebound nationally was unlikely.
The cost of a new home in 100 major cities averaged 9,715 yuan (US$1,560) per square meter last month, up a marginal 0.03 percent from December 2011, the China Index Academy (CIA) said.
Prices rose 0.23 percent from November, the seventh consecutive monthly rise, it said in a statement.
Property costs are a key social issue in China, where millions of would-be buyers have been priced out of the market, fueling resentment.
The central government has sought to control residential property prices for the past two years with measures including restrictions on second and third home purchases, higher minimum downpayments, and annual taxes in some cities on multiple and non-locally-owned homes.
The moves cooled the once red-hot market, but demand remains pent-up and government monetary policy has eased in recent months.
“Looking into 2013, the property sector is expected to continue the trend in 2012 to stabilize and recover under the conditions that the economy stabilizes and recovers, and the strength of current policies remains unchanged,” the CIA said.
“But a massive rebound across the board nationwide is rather unlikely as the destocking of new projects whose construction started in the past two years is far from ending,” it added.
Most property developers put off launching new projects and kept prices stable last month after reaching their full-year sales target, it said, adding that the central government’s repetition of its determination to maintain curbs on the industry also prevented a sharp rise.
The average new home price in Beijing stood at 24,518 yuan per square meter, up 0.53 percent in a month and up 3.31 percent year-on-year. In Shanghai it was 27,034 yuan per square meter, up 0.31 percent on November but down 0.65 percent over a year.
The CIA is owned by SouFun Holdings Ltd (搜房控股), China’s biggest real estate Web site operator.
New properties are the most important part of China’s real estate market and the survey covers prices of both apartments, including those with prices regulated by the authorities, and houses.
The domestic unit of the Chinese-owned, Dutch-headquartered chipmaker Nexperia BV will soon be able to produce semiconductors locally within China, according to two company sources. Nexperia is at the center of a global tug-of-war over critical semiconductor technology, with a Dutch court in February ordering a probe into alleged mismanagement at the company. The geopolitical tussle has disrupted supply chains, with some carmakers reportedly forced to cut production due to chip shortages. Local production would allow Nexperia’s domestic arm, Nexperia Semiconductors (China) Ltd (安世半導體中國), to bypass restrictions in place since October on the supply of silicon wafers — etched with tiny components to
Singapore-based ride-hailing and delivery giant Grab Holdings Ltd has applied for regulatory approval to acquire the Taiwan operations of Germany-based Delivery Hero SE's Foodpanda in a deal valued at about US$600 million. Grab submitted the filing to the Fair Trade Commission on Friday last week, with the transaction subject to regulatory review and approval, the company said in a statement yesterday. Its independent governance structure would help foster a healthy and competitive market in Taiwan if the deal is approved, Grab said. Grab, which is listed on the NASDAQ, said in the filing that US-based Uber Technologies Inc holds about 13 percent of
Taiwan is open to joining a global liquefied natural gas (LNG) program if one is created, but on the condition that countries provide delivery even in a scenario where there is a conflict with China, an energy department official said yesterday. While Taiwan’s priority is to have enough LNG at home, the nation is open to exploring potential strategic reserves in other countries such as Japan or South Korea, Energy Administration Deputy Director-General Chen Chung-hsien (陳崇憲) said. While the LNG market does not have a global reserve for emergencies like that of oil, the concept has been raised a few times —
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday received government approval to deploy its advanced 3-nanometer (3nm) process at its second fab currently under construction in Japan, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said in a news release. The ministry green-lit the plan for the facility in Kumamoto, which is scheduled to start installing equipment and come online in 2028 with a monthly production capacity of 15,000 12-inch wafers, the ministry said. The Department of Investment Review in June 2024 authorized a US$5.26 billion investment for the facility, slated to manufacture 6- to 12nm chips, significantly less advanced than 3nm process. At a meeting with
RSS