According to the Report on the Implementation of China's Monetary Policy released by People's Bank of China on August 4, 2005, in the second quarter this year, the weighted average price of nationwide commercial house sales stood at 4,719 yuan per square meter in 35 large and medium-sized cities. However, the average price in nice cities was higher than the national level. Shanghai, Beijing and Xiamen were the top three cities, with the average price hitting 8,335 yuan per square meter.

In these cities, the price of commercial house sales recorded a year-on-year increase of 8 percent or a 1.5 percent quarter-on-quarter increase, 1.8 percent and 1.2 percentage points lower respectively than in the first quarter this year. The price hike of second-hand houses was higher than that of new commercial buildings. Particularly, the price of land transaction gained rebounds, up 10.7 percent year on year or 3.8 percent quarter on quarter.

The increase of commercial building ready for sale is less than that of commercial building completed. In the first six months this year, the commercial buildings sold witnessed a year-on-year increase of 14.4 percent, 3.9 percent lower than the commercial buildings completed. The excessive demand for commercial buildings has been cooled down. By the end of June, 100 million square meters of commercial buildings nationwide are available for sale, up 7.9 percent year on year. Of all the buildings, 59 million square meters of commercial houses are ready for sale, a year-on-year increase of 2.2 percent.

By People's Daily Online