Beijing land sales likely to set new monthly record

Beijing is likely to report new monthly high revenues from land sales in January, said Zhang Dawei, chief analyst with property agent Centaline Property, on Sunday. Zhang said the city last saw record monthly high revenues from land sales in November last year with a figure of 41.4 billion yuan (6.8 billion U.S. dollars). January is likely to see a new record amid a land sales boom, he said. By Jan. 16, the revenues from land sales in Beijing had exceeded 30 billion yuan, but still many plots of lands are to be auctioned in the remainder of the month, said a department from the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Land and Resources. Zhang said the booming land sales and rises in prices of land could continue to affect housing market expectations of property developers and potential home buyers. But the increases in land supply could add more homes to the market in the future, thus helping to moderate the rises in housing prices, the analyst said.