China’s property-owning dream is fast turning into a Halloween-like nightmare

[1776Forever]

Halloween comes early for Chinese real estate
Commentary: What’s next for China’s property sector?
By Craig Stephen

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/halloween-comes-early-for-chinese-real-estate-2011-10-30

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — When dealing with China, action can often speak louder than official numbers, especially when that action involves protests.

Last year, an outbreak of strikes by workers demanding higher wages due to surging living costs told that China had a serious inflation problem, long before authorities began hiking interest rates.

Last week, as protests by property buyers angry at falling home prices spread across various mainland Chinese cities, one conclusion is the mainland property market has decisively turned. While numbers for September shows property prices rose in all but one of 70 mainland cities, these protests tell a different story: China’s property-owning dream is fast turning into a Halloween-like nightmare.

The China Daily reported how hundreds of homeowners stormed into the sales office of Longfor Co. -3.80% in Shanghai last week to demand compensation after apartment prices were cut by as much as 30% since they signed their purchase contracts. The unfortunate buyers, some of whom will not receive their apartment keys until next March, are already facing a 300,000 yuan ($47,000) loss on their purchase.

(more at link)

........

Hmm - the low-cost labor of even China is catching up to them it seems!

[Old and In the Way]

1. Sounds like all of those future cities that were built are beginning to have an impact

on their housing market. Too much supply, not enough demand. It probably was a good, short term method to deal with rising unemployment....but now that glut of housing is depressing values for all properties. Wouldn't surprise me if they start blowing up these ghost cities to deal with the excess supply...and then restart the same process anew in 5 years.

[pnwest]

2. I saw a story about all the ghost towns and ghost malls

they were building in China. They were already at something like 25% occupancy in these apartment buildings and less in the malls, but they still keep building. Shockingly stupid, how can they think that's not gonna blow up their fake economic boom? The mind boggles.

[1776Forever]

3. It sure does make one wonder what they are thinking? This is our situation backward in a way. All

our "older" malls are sitting empty now and I don't see many new ones being built. What is going to happen when the "banker" Chinese can't give out "loans" to keep their boom going and us and Europe too? It certainly does make the mind boggle!
:silly:

[JoeyT]

4. China won't be able to supply cheap labor for much longer.

That's why we needed new free trade agreements.