China hints at easing property cooling measuresby Janice Huang
China showed signs of relaxing cooling measures in the property market as it allowed companies to have refinancing while the economy cooled further last month, with industrial output, fixed asset investment and retail sales missing expectations as the government extended a crackdown on debt risks and factory pollution.
Beijing is already in the second year of a campaign to reduce high levels of debt as authorities worry that riskier lending practices, especially in the real estate sector, could imperil the economy.
In the property sector, China's October property sales and new construction starts fell in October as the property market cooled from a two-year boom in the face of a tighter liquidity environment and a crackdown on riskier lending.
Real estate investment growth also cooled in October, in line with expectations, as the government seeks a soft landing for the property sector amid a gradual slowdown in the economy.
Property sales by floor area fell by 6 percent in October from a year earlier, compared with a 1.5 percent decline in September, according to Reuters calculations. The decline was the biggest since the first two months of 2015.
"[That decline] is exactly what the government is looking for," said Jonas Short, head of investment bank Sun Hung Kai Financial's Beijing office.
Sales by value fell by 1.7 percent on- year in October.
Source: The Standard
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It's all about "how much you made when you were right" & "how little you lost when you were wrong"