Wenzhou government puts up 52 sites for sales as revenue falls

28 August, 2012, 15:26. Posted by Zarathustra

In case you have not noticed, Wenzhou?s real estate prices did not quite rebound as in the rest of the country according to the official residential real estate prices.?

Not surprising perhaps, as the centre for the shadow banking mess and with large number of companies facing financial difficulties, with real estate speculators in the city getting squeezed by falling prices, the real estate market did not quite warm up (or perhaps not yet, who knows).

A cooling real estate market puts local government under pressure, predictably, as it has become a major source of revenue.? In a sign of desperation, the local government of Wenzhou put up 52 pieces of land for sales in a sort of big road show, with a total area of 3,220 mu according to First Financial Daily (1 mu = 666.66 sq. metre).? Publicly, government officials told real estate developers that this is a brilliant time to invest in real estate, and to tell everyone that ?look, we have a lot of land available, surely the real estate market is now very rational?.? Whatever.? Of all the sites being offered, 10 of them were reportedly sold on the day.

Those with knowledge of the local government?s financial situation, of course, points out that this is merely a sign of desperation.? Wenzhou?s land sales have fallen by 84% in the first half of the year compared to a year ago.? Tax revenue also slowed together with the economy.? As a result, Zhejiang Province (where Wenzhou is located) local government total revenue growth has slowed to 4.4% for the first half of the year compared to a year ago, much lower than the 20-30% growth rate in the previous year according to First Financial Daily.?

But beyond the financial consideration of the local governments, funny enough, First Financial Daily also noted that other local governments are also putting up more land for sales.? Perhaps some of them are once again betting on real estate investment to stabilise growth.? It is still about investment, after all.

For more news and analysis, visit Also sprach Analyst. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Get our daily email update FOR FREE!

Source: http://www.alsosprachanalyst.com/real-estate/wenzhou-government-puts-up-52-sites-for-sales-as-revenue-falls.html

benjamin netanyahu storm shelters nick lachey chevy volt christina hendricks lifelock camp david