Land-transfer revenues jump in Sept

Land-transfer revenues in ten major cities grew 49% last month from August, Caixin reported, citing E-House China R&D Institute. The US$7.7 billion intake represented the highest growth of the year. Transferring lease rights to developers is a major revenue source for local governments, and the September figures suggest the market has warmed. In 2010, Beijing enacted housing curbs to cool the overheating market but local governments have recently increased the supply of land. Last month, nearly 13,000 hectares of land was put on the market in 300 cities, according to the China Index Academy. Beijing took in about US$4 billion from land sales in September, more than the total of the first eight months of the year. The drop in sales through August prompted local governments to implement sales-triggering policies.