Beijing's housing sector reported a 0.6-percent drop in business confidence last year despite a 19.2-percent rise in housing price, the municipal bureau of statistics said Friday.

In 2005, the average advance sale price for Beijing's residential houses and apartments stood at 6,725 yuan (840 U.S. dollars) per square meter, a year-on-year rise of 1,083 yuan (135 U.S. dollars) or 19.2 percent.

In the meantime, however, the housing sector's business confidence index was measured at 102.6, down 0.6 percent on 2004.

Beijing's real estate sector received 152.5 billion yuan (19 billion U.S. dollars) of investment in 2005, up 3.5 percent year-on-year but the growth rate slowed down by 19 percent compared with 2004.

Last year, the city finished building 37.7 million square meters of residential houses and apartments, up 23 percent year-on-year. But many potential home buyers would rather wait, hoping the staggering housing price might fall a little.

As a result of this watchfulness, Beijing's unsold houses and apartments totaled 13.74 million square meters in 2005, up 31.6 percent over 2004. About 77 percent of the unsold housing are located outside the Third Ring Road that surrounds the city proper.

The municipal statistics bureau noted that Beijing sold 283,000 residential houses and apartments in 2005, which added up to about 33.67 million square meters, down 11 percent and 8 percent respectively compared with 2004.

Source: Xinhua