No fast recovery real estate expected - Sam Crispin

Sam Crispin

Despite stiff support by the government for the real estate sector, restoration of the confidence among the buyer might take a while, real estate guru Sam Crispin tells the Financial Times. The central government in Beijing announced yesterday measure to ease getting credit for property developers and reduced the lock-up period for house owners from five to two years. Within the lock-up period owners would have to pay heavy taxes to discourage speculation.
But that does not mean a speedy recovery of the heavy hit real estate industry, says Sam Cripin of the Shanghai-based Crispins Property Investment Management, who points out that three years of stifling measures are only now coming to an end.

Ultimately it will all come down to sentiment: when buyers can see that there is a chance of prices going up again instead of down . . . and we are probably at least three months away from the return of that kind of confidence, maybe longer," he said.
Other real estate market analysts said they thought measures might be more effective than previous moves but would begin to boost the market only in the second half of 2009. "One thing about the property market is there is a limit to what government can do to either slow it down or speed it up," said Mr Crispin.

Update: Meanwhile back in Shenyang, the local government is making the best out of the real estate crisis. (h/t Danwei)



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Sam Crispin is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. When you are interested in having him as a speaker, do get in touch.

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