HONG KONG/BEIJING :A state-backed property project in China has received the first development loan under Beijing’s so-called “whitelist” mechanism and two major cities have eased home-buying curbs, state media reported, as concerns mount about the liquidation of Evergrande.
The latest measures add to a string of supportive policies rolled out by the world’s second-largest economy over the past year to help revive the economically crucial property sector hit by an unprecedented debt crisis.
Despite those measures, the property market ended last year with the worst declines in new home prices in nearly nine years, casting a shadow over the hopes of broader economic recovery and renewing investor demands for stronger policy initiatives.
Analysts say a Hong Kong court placing property giant China Evergrande Group into liquidation could worsen the demand outlook as homebuyers take a cautious approach given uncertainty about the health of other private developers.
Two of China’s major cities, Suzhou and Shanghai,followed Guangzhou in easing home-buying restrictions, official media reported on Tuesday, in an effort to boost demand from homebuyers.
Investors were not excited by the new supports, however, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Mainland Properties Index and China’s CSI 300 Real Estate Index both falling 2.6 per cent on Wednesday.
In another support measure, a loan worth 330 million yuan ($46 million) to a state-backed development was approved just a few working days after the government announced the “project whitelist” mechanism, the official Securities Times reported on Wednesday.
Securities Times said Nanning city in Guangxi region had provided its first “project whitelist” to local financial firms containing 107 developments. A project by state-backed Guangxi Beitou Industry & City Investment Group was granted a development loan from China Mingsheng Banking Corp.Source: Reuters
