Reports that the supply of housing in some cities is not meeting
demand were yesterday denied by the Ministry of Construction. But
it admitted inconsistencies in the kind of homes being made
available.
Data gathered from 40 major cities showed that housing supply
could satisfy normal market demand, according to a ministry
spokesman. However, some cities had an oversupply of expensive
apartments and a shortage of affordable homes.
At the end of April, the 40 cities had 1 million apartments
covering a total of 120 million square meters on the market. Of
these only 12,000 were smaller than 60 square meters.
As house prices in China are relatively high when compared with
incomes prospective buyers were normally interested in purchasing
the smaller apartments, said the spokesman.
The ministry had instructed local planning departments to adjust
the supply of homes in favor of smaller homes and this was having
an effect, he added. .
Since 2004 the government had taken measures to stop the
property market from overheating but? prices kept rising and
investment continued to pour into the sector, the spokesman
observed.?
Some warn of a looming property "bubble" and urge tough measures
to reduce the vacancy rate while others insist rising prices are a
realistic reflection of market supply and demand.
(China Daily May 15, 2006)
