[photopress:housing_low_rent.jpg,full,alignright]It has actually happened. The miracle. Housing prices in Shanghai have fallen sharply. The reason is that potential buyers are holding back purchase plans in the hope that they can benefit from a new housing policy to increase supply.
The average price of an apartment in Shanghai dropped 6.36% from October to RMB7,731 ($1,043) per sq m last month due to government policies to curb speculation.
Jin Weikang, a 51-year-old worker in a dairy processing plant, said, ‘My dream of buying a bigger house seems closer to reality.’
Premier Wen Jiabao said in a speech at the National University of Singapore on November 19 that China should increase housing supply by promoting low-rent houses and subsidized housing, as well as through market regulations on private housing.
Premier Wen emphasized that subsidized housing should be sold mainly to ‘the middle-class group’.
Cao Jian, a 31-year-old senior manager of a foreign-owned company, said, ‘The soaring house prices once depressed me a lot. But now I am waiting for the launch of subsidized homes, which is said to target middle-class people like me.’
Source: People’s Daily Online