After a sharp increase in real estate sales, investment in Hainan’s real estate market slowed, leading the local government to say that the market will stabilize.

February investment in real estatedecreased 14.3 percent from January, to just under 3 billion yuan (US$436 million), according to Hainan’s Bureau of Statistics. Sale of commercial properties decreased 32.2 percent, to 891,700 square meters.

Following the launch of Hainan’s international tourism promotion at the beginning of January, commercial property sales totaled 1.3 million square meters for the month, a nearly 435 percent increase over the same period in 2009.

To avoid an overheated market, the provincial government stopped examining and approving commercial land use and new real estate projects. It will not restart examination and approvals until the National Development and Reform Commission ratifies the tourism promotion plan, which is expected to be in late March or April.

In February, the provincial government decided to provide more housing for low-income families this year. It will also regulate land and housing markets to crack down on speculation.