Property prices in China too high

The majority of mainland Chinese, or about 72.2 percent said that real estate prices are “too high to accept” despite government measures aimed at cooling the property sector, according to a survey from the central bank.

The percentage increased by seven percentage points from 2009, said news agency Xinhua in a report, citing the results of the third quarter survey carried across 50 Chinese cities.

Xinhua also quoted the National Bureau of Statistics, which said that 70 key Chinese cities saw a 9.3-percent on-year increase in property prices in August. The report also said that new home prices climbed 11.7 percent in August from the previous year, while second-hand home prices grew 6.2 percent.

About 15.6 percent of respondents said they want to purchase homes in the next quarter, down 1.5 percentage points compared in 2009, the survey revealed.

About 58.3 percent of total respondents also said that prices of commodities are “too high”, a decline of 0.6 percentage points from the previous quarter.

The percentage of respondents expecting prices to continue to increase also rose 2.9 percentage points to 73.2 percent over the previous quarter.