Recently in Dongguan City, there have been several properties selling below the land price, with salespeople stating that in the current environment, the main goal is to sell the houses, regardless of the price.
According to the report from “China Real Estate News” on August 7th, the first property in Dongguan City to offer prices below the land value is the Yunrui Palace project in Maqiang, Dongguan. The selling price is 10,000 yuan per square meter, while the land price is 14,000 yuan per square meter. This property was first pre-sold in May 2022 with an average price of 24,000 yuan per square meter. Currently, the normal selling price for high-rise units in this property is around 17,000 yuan per square meter.
Subsequently, individual projects in the Shuixiang area also introduced properties priced at 10,000 yuan per square meter. Another state-owned enterprise in Hongmei, Shuixiang, Dongguan, launched the Xiyue project with a batch of units priced at only 10,600 yuan per square meter, with the option to choose the floor and complete with high-quality furnishings.
It was reported that these low-priced properties are all part of discounted houses. “Discounted houses” refer to real estate developers using their properties as collateral to repay construction debts owed to contractors. In order to quickly recoup funds, most developers sell houses at lower prices.
A local real estate agency representative commented on this, saying, “In the current market situation, selling houses is a good thing no matter the price.” The representative emphasized the importance of ensuring delivery quality even when profits for real estate companies are impacted by falling property prices, which is a critical test for a good enterprise.
To boost property sales and address the funding shortage among real estate companies, China’s leading real estate company Vanke launched a promotion in Dongguan offering a “buy one, get one free” deal.
According to Jiemian News, the promoted property is located in Vanke Zhongtian Shiji Shui’an in Dongguan, with the promotional period from July 12th to 28th of this year. Marketing personnel for the property stated that the “buy one, get one free” offer is only applicable to larger units of 140 square meters or more. Purchasing one unit participating in the promotion entitles the buyer to receive a sea-view apartment located in Vanke Shuangyue Bay in Huizhou (specified unit). Currently, the average selling price for larger units in this project is around 35,000 yuan per square meter, while smaller units are priced at 26,000 yuan per square meter. The size of the complimentary unit in Shuangyue Bay, Huizhou, is approximately 40 square meters, valued at over 200,000 yuan.
Regarding this, Li Yujia, Chief Researcher at the Guangdong Provincial Institute of Urban and Rural Planning Housing Policy Research Center, mentioned that the strong demand for low-priced properties indicates that buyers anticipate a further decline in property prices, which may lead to even lower price expectations and subsequently influence market sentiment and transactions.
A netizen on Tencent lamented, “Property prices are really unbearable. The sharp drop has already begun, and houses below the land value will be rampant. Waiting one more day to buy a house means more discounts!”