CRI听力: Experts: Home Prices May Fall in 2nd Half of 2010

Chinese real estate experts say housing prices in China's major cities may go down in the second half of the year, thanks to a series of counter measures taken by the central government.

He Fei has more.

Li Jingguo, a real estate researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, says there is little room for housing prices to get any higher.

"Although various factors have pushed up home prices, they have reached or even exceeded the upper limit of home buyers in some cities, especially in the hotspot cities. The implementation of powerful government measures and tightening of the credit market will help curb speculative investments. So space for a further rise in housing prices later this year is limited."

Statistics show that sales volume in China's property market has hit a record high, leapfrogging from 660 million square meters in 2008 to 940 million last year.

In the meantime, skyrocketing housing prices have gone far beyond what residents can afford. The prices of commercial residential buildings in China increased by more than 25 percent last year, while disposable incomes rose less than 10 percent.

Wang Juelin from the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development says the overheating housing market may hurt the national economy.

"It's crazy. I have never seen such a hike in the property market. Home prices have strayed beyond most buyers, it's unacceptable. It may trigger a financial or economic crisis, which would harm social harmony."

To better balance supply and demand in the housing market, the government has pledged to greatly increase land supply, and offer more affordable housing this year.

Experts say these measures will help set up a long-term mechanism to stabilize the property market.

They predict the increase in home prices in second- and third-tier cities may also slow down.

For CRI, I'm He Fei.