Vanke raises target, expects increase in housing supply

Property developer China Vanke said it expects to see a significant increase in housing supply later in 2009 as investment in property by enterprises picks up, Reuters reported. "Market supply is expected to grow substantially at the end of 2009. By that time, the issue of insufficient new housing supply will be alleviated," said Yu Liang, the company’s president, crediting loose lending policies and government support of the property and stock markets. As a result of expectations of higher demand, Vanke raised its 2009 housing starts target by 45.2% to 5.85 million square meters, from 4.03 million square meters. Vanke posted a 22.5% year-on-year rise in first-half profit this year, to US$366 million.