Residential land sales reach record high in big cities   

北上广深宅地收入2755亿刷新纪录 楼面价涨近五成

据中原地产市场研究部统计数据显示，截至11月11日，“北上广深”四个一线城市今年的住宅土地成交额已高达2755亿元，超过2013年全年的2728.9亿元，创造了新的宅地收入纪录。[查看全文]

(ECNS) -- Residential land sales in China's four first-tier cities reached a record high in 2014, with land prices up nearly 50 percent year on year.

According to Centaline Property, by November 11, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen had sold 275.5 billion yuan ($44.8 billion) in residential land, exceeding the 272.89 billion yuan ($44.4 billion) in 2013.

Centaline analyst Zhang Dawei predicts that residential land sales across the four cities would surpass 300 billion yuan ($48.8 billion) by year end for the first time in history.

Of all the 185 transactions, the average price was 11,190 yuan ($1,820) per square meter, 47.8 percent higher than that of 2013.

Zhang said first tier cities have always been an important battleground for developers. Real estate giants such as Vanke and Poly have made several purchases, especially in the third quarter.

In the meantime, housing inventories in these cities went down in October, the first time in eight months. According to Yiju Property, new home inventories in October covered 37.58 million square meters, 0.9 percent lower than in September.

Zhang said as real estate agencies rev up before the year ends, a price drop might seem unlikely. Short term price hikes also appear impossible while inventories remain high.