China Vanke, the Shenzhen-based developer whose chairman is Wang Shi, (shown here) reported a better-than-expected 19.7% rise in property sales in May to RMB 6.41 billion ($938 million).
The developer also said its property sales in the January-May period rose 20.9% from a year earlier to RMB 23.89 billion.
Analysts had expected growth in China’s home purchases to slow significantly from April’s rate, because of rising prices in some cities.
Matthew Fang, an analyst at Guosen Securities said, "We thought China Vanke would be lucky to top RMB 5 billion in property sales in May. But the results from Vanke, and indeed the overall industry, were better than expectations, showing housing demand was more solid than we thought."
China Vanke, the country’s largest property developer by market value, didn’t provide year-earlier figures or elaborate on its latest sales data.
Wall Street Journal Online reported that analysts said demand for residential properties in China has rebounded since February following market-boosting measures by Beijing including tax breaks, smaller downpayment requirements and lower loan rates for first-time buyers.
China Vanke said it plans to launch six projects and spend RMB 2.31 billion on land purchases in May.