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China land market booms in September

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-10-04 19:39

BEIJING: China's land transactions and prices hit new highs in September, according to the Shanghai-based China Index Academy, which is affiliated with SouFun.com, a top real estate website in China.

The institution reached the conclusion after conducting a research on the land markets in China's 60 major cities.

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The research showed transactions of residential land in September continued to rise for the eighth consecutive month this year.

A total of 650 land parcels were sold last month, 3 percent higher than August and 169 percent more than the year earlier figure, according to the research.

The acreage of land sold rose by 97 percent year on year to 28.54 million square meters. A total of 17.84 million square meters of residential land was sold in September, down 6 percent from the previous month, but a 269 percent rise year on year.

Land supply bottomed out in September. In the 60 cities, 913 parcels of land were on sale in September, up by 10 percent from the previous month and 74 percent from a year earlier.

The acreage of land on sale rose by 6 percent month on month and 97 percent year on year. The acreage of residential land on sale rose by 30 percent from a month earlier and 146 percent year on year to 23.8 million square meters.

Land prices also rose as a result of fast growing land transactions.

Price per square meter of the floor space of residential land sold in September hit new highs, reaching 2,691 yuan (US$394), a 37 percent month on month rise.

Beijing's land sales in May exceeded the total amount sold from January to April, China Daily reported On June 10.

A credit crunch, dwindling house transactions and falling prices had hit hard some Chinese cities following the US subprime mortgage crisis.

However, due to realtor's improved cash flow, loosened credit environment and lesser worries of inflation, China's property market started to rebound since this February.