Overseas buyers continue to be tempted by the prospect of quick returns in Asian property markets, despite fears of bubbles forming. Official figures show that foreign direct investment in China grew for the 13th straight month in August.
The news means that the total investment in China for the first eight months of 2010 rose 18.1 per cent, the Ministry of Commerce said at a briefing in Beijing. During August, foreign direct investment totalled USD 7.6 billion, up 1.4 per cent over the same month in 2009. The data includes investment by overseas companies in industries such as manufacturing, real estate and agriculture.
Ren Xianfang, an economist at IHS Global Insight, told the AFP that the data could be a signal that overseas "uncertainty" was going to impact foreign investment. "The uncertainty in external demand will suppress the impulsiveness of foreign investment to enter the Chinese market," he added.
Meanwhile, some Chinese cities are preparing fresh property tightening measures as real estate transactions and prices show signs of a rebound, Reuters claims.