CHINA
DEFLATING THE BUBBLE
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Fleshing out this view, Yi Xianrong, an economist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a government think-tank, made the jaw-dropping claim that there are
about 65.4 million empty apartments and houses
in China's cities and towns, many of them bought up by people wagering on a constantly rising market.
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Notwithstanding the wishes of some investors, if China were to stand down now from its property tightening campaign, it could prove deeply disruptive to the economy's development. Just last week, Kenneth Rogoff, a former chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, warned that the country's housing market was a bubble.
Fleshing out this view, Yi Xianrong, an economist at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a government think-tank, made the jaw-dropping claim that there are about 65.4 million empty apartments and houses in China's cities and towns, many of them bought up by people wagering on a constantly rising market.
Although Yi's estimate, based on electricity meter readings, was met with scepticism, it still served to underscore how the government has a ways to go to put the country's housing market on a more sustainable footing. "We believe many analysts are underestimating China's determination in curbing property prices," Ting Lu, an economist with Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, said in a note.
economictimes.indiatimes.com
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