AFTER regulations to curb housing prices were announced in Shenzhen in September, many speculators had started investing in nearby Dongguan, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported.
Dongguan real estate projects were promoted at an exhibition in Shenzhen which closed Sunday. Developers said 50 percent of their target clients were Shenzhen residents.
The properties were mainly high-end residential buildings and villas built close to downtown Shenzhen. They would continue to be promoted in Shenzhen until they went on the market next year, the developers said.
Low prices and high returns were the two main attractions for Shenzhen investors. It cost me only about 700,000 yuan (US$105,192) to buy three apartments in Dongguan and they are only about an hour s drive to downtown Shenzhen, one investor, identified as Zhang, said.
A salesman at a new upmarket residential building in Dongguan said about 30 percent of their clients were Shenzhen investors. Since October, the number of buyers from Shenzhen has increased sharply. The average price for the estate is 6,200 yuan per square meter and we sold half in just a few days. The property price in Dongguan is also increasing, just not as fast as Shenzhen, he said.
According to statistics released by the Dongguan housing authority, the city sold 4,587 apartments in September, with the number increasing to 5,200 in November. The sharp increase was mainly due to an increase in the number of Shenzhen investors, according to the city s housing report released earlier this month. (Wang Yuanyuan)
