|
Chinese property 中国的房地产 BUBBLES are supposed to burst with an audiblepop. But in the snap and crackle of the Chinesehousing market, it is hard to hear anything clearly. On June 9th the Wall Street Journal put itsear to the ground and declared that the great property bubble of China may be popping. Itpointed out that prices had fallen by 4.9% in the year to April in nine big cities tracked byRosealea Yao of GaveKal Dragonomics, a consultancy. Ms Yao herself thinks a correction inthe next six months is inevitable. But she argues that it is still a bit early to say the bubble isbursting. 泡沫爆破时本应是有声的。中国房地产市场虽是噼里啪啦地好不喧闹，却很难听清个中详况。6月9日，华尔街日报侧耳倾听了一番后发表说中国巨大的房产泡沫也许正在爆破。该报指出，今年截至4月九大城市的房产价格下降了4.9%，这是一家咨询机构GaveKal Dragonomics的Rosealea Yao所掌握到的信息。Ms Yao认为在未来6个月内房产市场必将迎来一段调整期。但她也认为，现在说泡沫会爆破还为时过早。 Official figures released on June 14th added more noise. They suggested that builders startedwork on 19% more residential floorspace in May, compared with a year earlier, and sold 18%more. But the sales figures were flattered by comparison with May 2010, an unusually slowmonth following a government clampdown on speculative homebuying a few weeks before. Andthe starts figures may have picked up the governments drive to build more affordablehousing. | 
