Monday, July 16, 2007

Another Get-Rich-Quick Scheme

Speculative real estate trading. That's what's hot in Shenzhen right now. "Shenzhen's explosive housing market" ranks No. 5 on Yahoo China's keyword search today.

Despite of various policies to cool down the housing  market in all the major cities in China, buyers are not hesitated in the least bit, especially in Shenzhen. According to one real estate agent, 8000 speculative traders control nearly 30% of the resale market in Shenzhen. Everybody knows the market is overheated and the houses are overvalued, but no one is stopping. In the first quarter of 2007, the market saw a 10.3% y-o-y increase. And just within the first 6 months of this year, the price increased by 50%.

The highest record price belongs to one luxury house in the Futian district, the per square foot price is 1711 USD. How does that compare to luxury houses in the States? According to one report published by the Institute of Luxury Home Marketing, an Aspen, Colorado mountain compound (Hala Ranch) that was recently listed for sale by Prince Bandar bin Sultan is currently the most expensive residence for sale in the US today. It's priced at 2410 USD per square foot but it includes stables and 95 acres in an exclusive Rocky Mountain resort area. You get so much more just by paying a little extra; I would pick the Aspen house any day.

Reference

http://news.sohu.com/20070712/n251018188.shtml (Chinese)

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/bizchina/2007-06/15/content_895380.htm (English)

No comments: