Luxury residential apartments in Sanya have a special appeal for residents in northern parts of China because of the city's tropical weather and resort environment.
According to Alvin Lau, managing director at CB Richard Ellis, non-residents account for some 90 per cent of buyers of luxury residential apartments in Sanya, and the majority of them are from outside southern China.
'We have seen an increase in buyers from northern, eastern and western China - cities like Chongqing,' he adds.
He says the property market follows a seasonal pattern similar to the tourist industry.
The peak tourism period runs from November to February, the same period that sees higher demand for properties.
Despite recent government measures to cool the property market, the long-term outlook for the tropical city is good, according to analysts. New rules were instituted in March to limit the number of apartments owned by a single family. Sanya families who own two or more apartments and non-Sanya registered families who already own one are restricted from making additional personal property purchases.
