Hangzhou property prices soar on ‘face lift’ ahead of G20 summit
Speculators flock to Hangzhou amid quadrupling of land transfer income for city’s government, the highest among all mainland cities in the first half of the year
Hangzhou, the Zhejiang province capital gearing up to hosting the G20 summit in September, has seen property prices soar in the districts around the newly-built event venue amid a massive facelift for the city.
Housing prices near the Hangzhou Olympic and International Expo Centre, where the G20 summit and the 2022 Asian Games will be held, have increased around 40 per cent since the second half of last year, according to local property agents. They are set to rise more next year, with record-high prices being fetched at auctions of nearby land lots.
Hangzhou government’s land transfer income in the first half of the year quadrupled to 81.7 billion yuan (HK$95.2 billion), the most among all mainland cities in the period, according to a report released on Monday by property research institute China Index Academy.
A Country Garden development that opened late June near the expo centre located in Binjiang district has sold “very well”, with an average price of more than 30,000 yuan per square metre compared with average prices of just over 20,000 yuan last year at two property developments nearby, said Dai Dunshan, a property agent with Lianjia.
“New home prices, especially in the core Binjiang district, have risen at least 30 per cent from mid-last year. But the increase would be more next year, as land in the area is being sold at high prices now,” he said.
There are also speculators from outside Hangzhou. I had some clients who purchased whole floors of serviced apartments
In May a plot of land near the centre was awarded to a consortium led by Cinda in one of the most expensive transactions in the countryfor 12.32 billion yuan, or 21,576 yuan per square metre.
