The average price of commercial houses in Beijing stood at 5,575
yuan (US$675.7) per square meter in the first five months of this
year, representing a year-on-year increase of 8.13 percent,
Beijing Youth Daily said on Saturday.
However, the increase rate was a bit lower compared with the
rise of 16.5 percent in the first four months of this year, and
11.15 percent in the first quarter, the paper said, quoting an
analysis report of the Beijing Municipal Development and Reform
Committee.
The report cited the increasing demand for housing and the
rising cost of raw materials and labor as the main reasons for the
price rise of commercial houses in the capital city.
Meanwhile, the report said, the state policy to readjust and
control the real estate industry over the past few months has
played a role in restraining housing sales, with many Beijing
consumers having adopted a wait-and-see attitude.
The report believed that there is comparatively less housing
speculation in Beijing than in Shanghai.
The committee predicted that the city's housing prices are
likely to rise steadily in the later half of this year, with the
stabilization of the state macro-control policy.
The demand for houses, especially that for commercial houses, is
still strong, it said.
(Xinhua News Agency July 17, 2005)