Comeback kid keeps things simple

Focused business

"There were a number of parcels going for a bargain price but we gave up on them because of the overall strategic arrangements and the capital turnover. There were some that looked really attractive and possessed a superior location but we finally quit the bidding, given the existing high price," Sun said.

Sunac is an integrated residential and commercial property developer. It currently operates in just a few cities including Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Chongqing and Hangzhou. Sun says the company will have operations in no more than 10 cities within five years.

"The management risks will be huge if we operate in too many cities. It is almost impossible to have in-depth communication with the top management at the local companies regarding better risk control," said Sun.

An important factor in Sunco's failure was the management of branch companies. Some of them allegedly manipulated sales figures, finally leading to over-optimistic judgments by the group company.

So, in contrast with Sunco, which pursued scale with land parcels scattered across third- and fourth-tier cities, Sunac's strategy is to focus on high-end projects in a few key cities.

The company's strategy appears to be working. Sunac's sales value ranked the highest in Beijing, Tianjin and Wuxi last year. It ranked third in Shanghai after it entered the market in 2012. In Chongqing, Sunac's sales value ranked second, behind Longfor Properties Co Ltd, which is based in the city.

Sunac's high-end project West Chateau in Beijing, for instance, sold out for 6.18 billion yuan last year, higher than all the residential projects in the capital.

Regional divergence was a key phrase for China's real estate market in 2013.

In Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, average housing prices all exceeded 30,000 yuan ($4,839) per sq m, while those in third-tier cities were 7,330 a sq m, according to statistics from the country's largest real estate portal owned by SouFun Holdings Ltd

"The divergence of housing price dynamics across regions remains a key theme in 2014, driven by demand-supply conditions at local levels," said Zhu Haibin, China economist with JPMorgan Chase and Co Ltd.

Looking forward, Sunac aims to achieve 65 billion yuan in home sales in 2014, Sun said, adding it is conservative target because all unfavorable conditions and policy risks have been considered.

"I was told by my financial advisers to be conservative because investors will be happy if the target is beaten," said Sun.

The company sold homes with a contract value of 50.8 billion yuan in 2013.

"We will definitely buy more land parcels in 2014 than in the previous year, with a focus on high-end products in key cities," he said.

However, Sun doesn't care much about the scale of the business. "I don't have a timeframe for achieving 100 billion yuan in sales," said Sun. But he attaches much importance to customers' satisfaction.

Improving quality is a business highlight for Sunac in 2014, Sun said. Product quality, he stressed, is the cornerstone for any business and is particularly important for property developers because a home is often a customer's long-term and most expensive acquisition.

Although Sunac will try its best to satisfy customers, Sun believes equal treatment also matters.

"It is unfair for others if only the squeaky wheel gets the grease," said Sun. "We will try our best to satisfy our customers based on all their reasonable requirements."