China property shares rally on hopes of more relaxation measures

Times China Holdings

15/09/2022 04:11

HONG KONG, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Shares of Chinese property
developers rallied on Thursday on hopes that cities in the
mainland will roll out more relaxation measures to boost the
embattled sector. 
    The Hang Seng Mainland Properties Index  .HSMPI  in Hong
Kong jumped more than 5% in morning trading, while China's CSI
Real Estate Index  .CSI000952  rose more than 4%.
    The southern Chinese city of Guangzhou will allow bigger
reductions in home prices - of up to 20% from 6% previously -
Chinese financial news outlet Yicai reported on Thursday, the
biggest cut by any top-tier city in the country.
    Chinese cities set limits on how much developers can raise
or lower their prices. The government is wary of big price cuts
as it does not want property prices to tumble or for the cuts to
trigger protests from previous buyers.
    Financial information outlet REDD reported on Thursday,
citing two sources, President Xi Jinping said in a closed-door
meeting in late August that reasonable relaxation policies
should be implemented as soon as possible to turn around the
housing market. 
    The four top-tier cities, Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and
Guangzhou, are, however, excluded from being asked to roll out
more relaxation, the report said.
    Country Garden  2007.HK , Guangzhou R&F Properties
 2777.HK , CIFI Holdings  0884.HK , Logan Group  3383.HK  and
Times China  1233.HK  all surged by more than 10%, versus a 0.5%
rise in the broader market Hang Seng Index  .HSI . 

 (Reporting by Clare Jim; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
 ((clare.jim@thomsonreuters.com;))