Apparently, the Chinese government (The National Development and Reform Commission)was concerned about housing prices back in 2004 which rose 7.7% nationwide last year. In addition, values increased 25% over the period 1998 to 2003 with a 16% market share of investment properties.

The article also said that “The commission Tuesday also said the government’s housing supply is not as balanced because common commercial apartments are not available in large enough numbers, while there is an oversupply of luxury apartments and high-end villas.”

Is it just me, or does this sound familiar? But wait a minute…this is China…”oversupply of luxury apartments and high-end villas?”

Fast forward to the current real estate market in China…

Housing prices in 20 cities fall in July but the average nationwide increase in 70 cities increased 6.4% annually. China, like us has localized markets with different housing trends. 20 out of 70 cities saw falling prices, yet the overall average saw an increase.

>Shanghai has observed soaring housing prices in recent years. Its commercial housing prices topped
>5,118 yuan (US$617) per square metre last year, about 24.2 per cent or 1,000 yuan, up from the
>previous year.

Does that sound familiar?

Note: By my conversion calculations, Shanghai averages $6,641 per square foot! Please help me out on this…did I do the conversion correctly? Thats 30% higher than the highest sales in Manhattan on a per square foot (Rupert Murdoch’s $44M penthouse purchase was just north of $5,000 per square foot).