Beijing Bubble?

via Xinhuanet:

“In Beijing, the average price of a newly-constructed unit dropped to less than 20-thousand yuan per square meter, more than 10 percent lower than the same period last year. This is also a month-on-month decrease of more than 26 percent.

The biggest hit occurred in Beijing, but declines of more than 40 percent were also registered in cities like Nanjing and Hangzhou. Among 23 property projects currently on the Beijing market, only seven have achieved 50 percent sales rates.”

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/video/2011-04/18/c_13834006.htm

”

“According to Chinesecrash.com, there are approximately 64 million vacant apartments in China, essentially creating “Ghost Cities.” These vacancies are due in large part to the increasing divide between China’s rich and poor leaving many without adequate housing.”

 http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/135633/20110418/china-housing-bubble-collapse-crash-beijing-government.htm#ixzz1Jvntn3kv

“The hottest question in Beijing is whether the country’s real estate boom is really a bubble, and if so, when it might burst. Given the possible impact of a China property meltdown on the world economy, this is a pretty fateful issue. I can’t give you much more than anecdotal stuff. But, I must say, the market looks pretty fizzy to me.  ”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/post/is-chinas-real-estate-bubble-about-to-burst/2011/03/04/AF8qvV0D_blog.html

Also see ZeroHedge:

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/chinese-real-estate-bubble-pops-beijing-real-estate-prices-plunge-27-one-month

China’s mounting pink slips

http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/01/04/opinion/edlarson.php

By Christina Larson

Published: January 4, 2009

 Set aside Yao Ming and the furry mascots. The buoyant spirit of the 2008 Beijing Olympics already seems like a lifetime ago. A new icon has recently emerged for today’s China: the disgruntled, laid-off factory worker, standing dejected outside a shuttered factory, another victim of the global economic downtown.

As startling as these factory closures have been, the fate of another less-heralded figure may be more significant: the laid-off office worker.

After 30 years of nearly continuous, even momentous, economic growth – which has lifted millions out of poverty and bolstered the ruling Chinese Communist Party – the economy’s manufacturing base is slipping. Last month, exports dipped for the first time in seven years.