Shenzhen, Xiamen and Shanghai top the “most risky” list of 35 large and medium-sized Chinese cities whose real estate markets are said to be inflated, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences said in an annual report yesterday.

Beijing, Nanjing, Tianjin, Zhengzhou, Hefei, Shijiazhuang and Fuzhou are also among the top-10 list, said a report released jointly by the National Academy of Economic Strategy of CASS and the City and Competitiveness Research Center of CASS, which track risks in the country’s housing market.

“The domestic housing market will in general cool and stabilize in 2017 accompanied by a new round of short-term correction,” said Ni Pengfei, director of the City and Competitiveness Research Center of CASS. “The correction may last for about one year, and we will probably see diversified and polarized performances among the cities.”

Housing prices in China will climb more slowly on average next year, with first-tier and selected second-tier cities where prices have grown fastest likely to suffer larger setbacks, the annual report said. Third and fourth-tier cities are seen to have contrasting performances.

The report also sees a rather significant drop in transactions next year while investment in real estate development is likely to slow in 2017 from this year.

The overall inventory of new homes will continue to drop with destocking pressure in third and fourth-tier cities remaining high, the report said.

(Source: shanghaidaily.com  Author: Cherry Cao)