Developers of China's "most expensive home" ordered to suspend sales

Sinobo Group, the owner of “the most expensive home in China” in Beijing, has been ordered to suspend sales and submit to an official investigation, the South China Morning Post reported. The 23 apartments at No 7 Diaoyutai in Beijing sell for between US$27,784 and US$46,307 per square meter, compared to an average price of US$3,534 per square meter for the rest of the city. When news of the development surfaced, state media suggested that the owners could be guilty of excessive profit making and extortion. It also said the project set a bad example in the context of popular dissatisfaction with the high cost of urban housing. According to state media, Sinobo Group doubled its asking price for units at the No 7 Diaoyutai complex over the course of the last year. Another developer has already been charged with excessive profit-making for implementing a similar price increase. The provenance of the Sinobo Group is the matter of some debate. Some internet reports have suggested that the firm has ties to the military – which once owned the site on which the No 7 Diaoyutai development now sits – or overseas mining interests.