By Hu Yuanyuan (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-01-18 07:23

The fall in prices from November to December, however, has made doing business easier for Yang Shaofeng, managing director of Beijing-based property broker Conworld. Property developers have become more modest, with some new ones even seeking active cooperation with Conworld, something he could hardly imagine in the past. But isn't that natural, given that more and more people are deferring their decision to buy a house because property prices have actually risen.

"Property prices will see a more reasonable growth this year, but I don't think they will see a big fall in Beijing because the demand is still high," says Vincent Mo, chairman of SouFun, the country's largest real estate and home furnishing website. "But in cities, such as Shenzhen and Guangzhou, which have seen dramatic growth in the past few years, an adjustment is likely." Such fluctuations are not abnormal across a country as big and diverse as China.

Factors fueling the property market development such as a rising yuan and urbanization have remained unchanged, says Meng Qi, an analyst with real estate brokerage firm Century 21. "A short-term adjustment is welcome but that alone is not likely to change the upward trend of the property market."

Savills deputy managing director Erich Chan, however, says prices may flatten this year, with middle and low-end residential units probably experiencing a minor drop in prices and transactions both.

All this has prompted more and more people to wait before taking the big decision, says a SouFun survey. Almost 60 percent of the people covered by the study believe a turning point is not far away and nearly 70 percent think this is not the right time to buy a house.

A majority of the respondents to a Sina.com survey, too, have deferred their buying plans - 78.5 percent of 53,502 people surveyed said they would like to postpone their plans. "I won't buy an apartment now because the price is too high," says Beijing-based lawyer Lin Zhi. "Property prices can't to keep rising forever. They have to fall some time."

Shan Xiaohui, who teaches at China Women's University, too, has deferred her plans to buy a bigger apartment just like many of her friends. "Frankly speaking, I don't think Beijing's property prices will drop drastically, but it's not likely to grow too fast this year."

Beijing News business reporter Zhang Jiaqi thinks an adjustment in the property market is long overdue. "If I were a Beijing resident, I would wait for some time because I could get better opportunities to buy a house at a price fixed by the government."

Till such time comes, the choice is entirely with the buyer - if he or she can get over the complication of figures and be convinced of the decision. But that's easier said than done, especially if a person is in desperate need of a house.

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