China Overseas Land sales soar 114% in May

Source : Business Times – 9 Jun 2009

Top Chinese property developer China Overseas Land said its property sales in May soared 113.9 per cent year on year to HK$5.65 billion (S$1.06 billion), as demand for homes remained strong.

China Overseas Land over the weekend said its sales for the first five months totalled HK$20.3 billion, up 80.1 per cent from the same period a year earlier.

The developer, which has a total land reserve of 24.8 million square metres, sufficient to meet its development use in the coming five years, said no new land was bought in May.

Rival developers also posted growth in May sales. China Vanke posted a 19.7 per cent year-on-year rise in contract sales in May to 6.41 billion yuan (S$1.37 million), bringing total contract sales value for the first five months to 23.89 billion yuan, up 20.9 per cent from a year earlier.

Smaller rival Greentown China recorded a 193 per cent year-on-year jump in May sales to 6.2 billion yuan, bringing its five-month total to 11.5 billion yuan, up more than 85 per cent from a year earlier. Greentown said the average contract selling price for the first five months increased 12 per cent year on year to 11,251 yuan per square metre.

Chinese property transactions have picked up in recent months thanks to central government stimulus measures, which have fuelled buying appetite for domestic property on the mainland.