Industrial land prices in Shanghai are likely to grow by about
55 percent in the next four years as demand for such plots remains
firm, one of the leading real estate service providers has
forecast.
Danny Ma, an associate director at CB Richard Ellis' local
research department, said that as the central government has
imposed macroeconomic controls on local governments to stop them
selling industrial land at undervalued prices to lure investments,
"industrial land prices have gained substantially by nearly 30
percent per annum over the past two years."
He added that although the "pace will likely slow down in the
near future, we still anticipate a 55-percent growth in the
2008-to-2011 period."
Meanwhile, robust demand from investors and occupiers is likely
to see a 43-percent jump in average rents of industrial facilities
in the coming four years, CBRE research has concluded.
By the end of the third quarter, Shanghai's industrial land
prices have soared 49 percent from a year earlier to 1,063 yuan
(US$141) per square meter while average rents for industrial
facilities rose 13.9 percent year on year, according to CBRE
statistics.
On Wednesday, a land plot in the city's Hongkou District
designated for commercial and office use was acquired by Hong
Kong's CITIC Group for 1.2 billion yuan. The 16,427-square-meter
parcel was actually sold at a per-gross-floor-area price of 18,263
yuan per square meter, almost doubling the price for a similar plot
in that area in January.
On the other hand, land prices for residential properties have
been increasing at an even faster pace.
Last month, Singapore-listed Yanlord Land Group acquired a
54,208-square-meter land parcel in the city's northeastern New
Jiangwan Town in Yangpu District for 1.301 billion yuan, or a GFA
price of 20,000 yuan per square meter, the highest ever in the city
for residential use. That price has beaten the previous record of
12,500 yuan per square meter set in June by Greentown China
Holdings Ltd for a land parcel in the same area.
(Shanghai Daily December 7, 2007)
