MNI 5 THINGS: China House Prices To Be Impacted By Controls

--5 Things To Look For: China New Home Price to Slow in Jan

By Iris Ouyang

     BEIJING (MNI) - Ahead of the release of China's 70-city housing prices on

Saturday, we highlight five themes for particular attention:

     - As the Chinese government continues to maintain tight controls on the

property sector, housing prices in January are expected to hold steady.

Reflecting a cooling down in property sales, new home prices may rise only

slightly or even decelerate, when compared to the strong growth before the end

of 2016.

     - Cities where property policies were not eased are unlikely to see price

growth tick up. Tier-1 cities, the four largest Chinese cities in terms of

economic and population sizes -- Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen -- are

likely to see prices remain suppressed, although a slight rebound could be

possible in a city or two.

     - Tier-2 cities will likely see continued robust price growth, especially

as these cities eased property controls to some extent for certain professional

groups in an attempt to attract talented workers. New home prices are expected

to increase slightly in Tier-2 cities in general.

     - As pointed out by Zhang Hongwei, director of the research department of

Tospur Consultancy, cities in Northeastern China such as Dalian and Shenyang,

cities in the country's more developed regions such as Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei

Economic Circle, Pearl River Delta and Yangtze River Delta could be boosted by

the urban professional programmes.

     - Cities with transportation links could see prices rise faster than other

cities. Yan Yuejin, director of the E-house Real Estate Institute told MNI that

cities in provinces such as Hunan, Henan, Guizhou, Shandong could experience

relatively fast price acceleration.

--MNI Beijing Bureau; +86 (10) 8532-5998; email: iris.ouyang@marketnews.com

--MNI London Bureau; tel: +44 203-586-2225; email: les.commons@marketnews.com

[TOPICS: MAQDS$,MAUDR$,MAUDS$,M$A$$$,M$Q$$$,M$U$$$]