Sales Rankings of Chinese Real Estate Companies for Q3 2009: Line-up of Top 10 Chinese Real Estate Companies Changes

BEIJING -

According to the “Sales Rankings of Chinese Real Estate Companies for Q3 2009″ report released on October 9 by CRIC (China) Information Technology Co., Ltd., in cooperation with the China Real Estate Appraisal and Shanghai E-house R&D Institute, Evergrande Real Estate Group (”Evergrande”) leaped to first place in terms of floor space sold for the first three quarters of 2009, land reserves at the end of the third quarter, area of projects under construction, floor space sold and sales revenue for the third quarter. Sina Leju was the first media source to announce the release of this report.

The report shows Chinese real estate companies did not remain stagnant despite their accelerated de-inventories during the first half of 2009. As some developers continued sales promotions in a move to achieve further growth in 2009, Evergrande recorded 2.303 million square meters of floor space sold for Q3, with sales revenue reaching RMB12.33 billion, topping both lists. According to CRIC (China), large amounts of land acquired at low prices, an operating model based on quick turnover and the upcoming public listing are expected to help Evergrande climb to even greater heights.

Remarkably, the company saw a substantial increase in the area of housing starts, with statistics showing that Evergrande is the leading real estate company across China in terms of the surface area of projects under construction and land reserves.

Currently, Chinese real estate companies are very keen on housing starts; with macro data showing the floor area under construction for the first eight months of 2009 increased 12 percent year-on-year. The increase is expected to alleviate the supply shortage in China’s real estate market.

CRIC (China) believes the real estate market will become more stable in Q4. The rankings for the year have basically been finalized. Companies on these lists fall into three tiers.

Rankings in terms of sales revenue: RMB50 billion plus, RMB30-50 billion, and RMB10-30 billion.

Rankings in terms of floor space sold: over 5 million sqm, 3-5 million sqm, and 1-3 million sqm.

Also highlighted was that home transactions decreased throughout China after June 2009. However, the Chinese real estate market is expected to be stable as a whole in the fourth quarter, said CRIC (China). For supply and demand, developers have sped up housing starts and construction since the first half of the year, with supplies in most Chinese cities expected to increase sequentially in Q4, alleviating supply shortages. However, high home prices and uncertainties in policies will curb rigid demand and demand from potential buyers who want to upgrade. Home transactions in Q4 are expected to decrease from Q2.

With that, housing prices are unlikely to continue their rapid rise in the fourth quarter due to increased supply, but are not expected to drop dramatically either. On the one hand, the wait-and-see attitude among potential buyers will cause housing prices to gradually stabilize in the fourth quarter; on the other, an increasingly balanced supply and demand is also conducive to the stability of prices.

As for the land market in Q4, local governments are expected to increase the amount of land for sale, developers are expected to bid frantically for land, and large private enterprises will actively join the roster of land hunters seeking out the most expensive parcels, setting up a three-way struggle with enterprises under the aegis of the central government and capitalized enterprises.

Contact: Kevin Fax: +86-10-5895-1005 Email: Kevinmts@sina.com

Source: Sina Leju

Kevin, +86-10-5895-1005 (Fax), or Kevinmts at sina.com