China mute witness to foreign investors buying property on its mainland: Report

Beijing [China], June 22 : China is a mute witness to foreign investors buying property on its mainland as the country faces foreclosure of properties because of thousands of defaults by developers on account of a government crackdown on speculation and a slowing economy, Inside Over reported.

Inside Over is a website focusing on news insights, international analysis and reporting.

The developers' market also floundered because of protests by homeowners against stalled construction projects and threats of mortgage boycotts.

Singapore is leading the buying spree, media reports stated, adding that sales of Chinese distressed properties, including office buildings and factories, hit a quarterly record of USD 1.93 billion in the last three months of 2022, according to MSCI, an American finance company, up 14 per cent from the same period a year earlier and 73 per cent higher than in 2019, the first year it tracked such data.

China's property sales plunged in 2022 by more than they did during the 2008 financial crisis, according to new estimates from S&P Global Ratings.

National property sales probably dropped by over 20 per cent in 2022. Adding to the confusion, since last June, there was a rapid increase in Chinese homebuyers refusing to pay their mortgages across a few hundred uncompleted projects, until developers finish construction on the apartments, reported Inside Over.

Most homes in China are sold before completion, generating an important source of cash flow for developers. Businesses have struggled to obtain financing in the last two years as Beijing cracked down on its high reliance on debt for growth, the report stated further.

The mortgage ban threat damaged the already weakening market confidence with foreign investors eyeing developers' properties to grab them at cheap rates.

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