|
|
By Kathleen Chu and Katsuyo Kuwako
Aug. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Mitsui Fudosan Co., Japan’s largest developer, plans to open more shopping centers in China as the company bets consumer spending will spur demand even as the government attempts to cool the housing market.
Mitsui Fudosan plans to build “several” shopping centers in cities including Beijing from 2014, after completing its first mall in Shanghai by 2013, said Takehito Fukui, a project manager of the retail properties division at Mitsui Fudosan. The plan will depend on the completion of the Shanghai project.
Mitsui Fudosan, which generated less than 10 percent of its profit overseas last fiscal year, is expanding its business in China amid rising consumer spending in the world’s fastest- growing economy. Disposable income in the country has grown an average of more than 10 percent a year in the past decade, according to data compiled by Bloomberg based on government figures.
“There is still plenty of room for growth in China in terms of consumer spending and we would like to continue to develop commercial properties there,” Fukui said in an interview in Tokyo Aug. 25. “We see China as a place to expand our business including developing and operating commercial properties.”
China has tightened property lending and cracked down on speculation since mid-April on concern last year’s record $1.4 trillion of new loans fueled a housing bubble that could lead to a surge in delinquent loans. The China Banking Regulatory Commission has told lenders to stress test for home prices dropping as much as 60 percent in some cities and warned some developers may run out of cash.
Slowing Growth
Property prices in China rose at the slowest pace in six months in July and the value of sales fell 19.3 percent from a year earlier after the government introduced measures to cool prices.
The long-term growth potential in the Chinese market outweighs the short-term volatility seen in the pricing, said Ryosuke Uematsu, Tokyo-based general manager of the overseas department at Mitsui Fudosan in the interview.
“While the market has been suppressed at the moment, we see it as stable and attractive in the long run,” he said.
China surpassed Japan as the world’s second-largest economy last quarter. Japan’s nominal gross domestic product for the second quarter totaled $1.288 trillion, less than China’s $1.337 trillion, the Japanese Cabinet Office said earlier this month.
Residential Business
On the residential side, Mitsui Fudosan is developing apartments in Tianjin with locally based Sino-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City Investment & Development Co. and Tiong Seng Properties Pte based in Singapore. Mitsui Fudosan also has a condominium project with a subsidiary of Marubeni Corp. in Shanghai.
The Japanese developer plans to build more residential units in other areas of China, Uematsu said.
The unit price per condominium has declined in China, because of the government’s policies and competition by some developers trying to sell apartments at lower prices to receive a return on investments to pay off debts, said Uematsu.
The company will decide on pricing and the number of units it plans to put up in its first round of sales for the Shanghai residential project by the end of September, after studying market conditions, he said.
Mitsui Fudosan’s stock has fallen 6.5 percent this year, compared with a 6.8 percent drop by the 44-member Topix Real Estate Index. The stock climbed as much as 5.3 percent to 1,462 yen as of 10:53 a.m. in Tokyo.
To contact the reporters on this story: Kathleen Chu in Tokyo at Kchu2@bloomberg.net; Katsuyo Kuwako in Tokyo at kkuwako@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: August 29, 2010 22:54 EDT |
|
狗仔卡
发表于 2010-8-29 09:57 PM
提升卡
置顶卡
沉默卡
喧嚣卡
变色卡
发表于 2010-8-29 10:15 PM
