1、The quarterly real estate expo from April 5th to the 8th has begun in Beijing. Many real estate developers are promoting property sales by offering various discounts. Meanwhile, housing price drops are also occurring in other major cities around the country such as Shanghai and Shenzhen. Industry in
2、siders estimate that housing prices will keep going down.Zhang Wan takes a closer look.As spring arrives, more people are showing an interest in property and a readiness to buy after waiting over the winter for prices to go down.Many visitors at the ongoing Beijing Spring Housing Fair say they have
3、found that property prices have dropped more or less compared to the same time last year.According to media reports, new home prices in Beijing have hovered around 18,000 yuan per square meter for three consecutive months, 14 percent lower than that of the same period last year.Price decrease and va
4、rious discounts on property are not only seen in Beijing, but also in Shanghai. An employee at a real estate developer says his companys housing prices have dropped by about 4,000 yuan per square meter this year.Previously, we set our housing prices at 12,000 yuan per square meter, but now we sell t
5、hese homes for 7,588 yuan per square meter. They would be very good deals for consumers nowadays.The Shenzhen Urban Planning and Land Resources Committee reports that the prices and sales volume of new homes in the city both dropped in the first quarter of the year. Although some real estate develop
6、ers have lowered prices by offering discounts, many citizens still believe they are too high and continue to watch and wait before purchasing a home.I certainly hope the prices continue to drop to a reasonable rate. I think its impossible for prices to drop to what they were in 2006. However, it wou
7、ld be better if the prices could fall back to the rate they were in 2008 or 2009. I believe its possible.With the current drop in housing prices, many people wonder whether the prices will keep going down. Hu Jinghui, vice president of a real estate agency in Beijing, tells us his opinion.There are
8、a total of about 500,000 units of housing in Beijing for sale this year. However, there are only about 200,000 prospective buyers who are capable of buying property in the city. Therefore, the price drop in the property market, I suppose, will become a trend.Consumers have complained about high prop
9、erty prices in major Chinese cities for years. In 2011, the government introduced a series of measures to curb housing prices, including restrictions on second home purchases, higher down payment requirements and the introduction of property taxes.Based on the current situation in the property marke
10、ts in major cities, industry insiders estimate that the price drops will continue for a long time in the near future.Chen Guoqiang, deputy director of the China Real Estate Society, says in major cities where there are housing purchase limits, many developers face the challenge of having a large amount of unsold units. Therefore, they consider offering discounts in hopes of boosting sales as possible way out. Chen believes housing prices will continue to fall.For CRI, I am Zhang Wan.
