Land transactions in Beijing on the rise

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Strong figures for May are pointing to the start of recovery in China's property market. The sale of land has also picked up. Here in Beijing, land transaction volumes have been on the rise, with developers are heading back to land auctions to get a piece of the action.

Four pieces of land located in the suburbs of the capital attracted a lot of bidding among land agents during a recent land auction in Beijing. But just a few months ago, there was little interest for the properties.

Land agents say that with the gradual warming-up of the real estate market, they are gearing up to buy more land this year.

A land agent says, "land sources are relatively rare in China. These lands are especially valuable since they are near the subway. We are willing to invest in some valuable land for future use."

A land agent says, "nobody wanted to get land at the beginning of this year. But now, everybody is scrambling for it. Acquiring land is our permanent task."

All the four pieces of property were sold by the end of the auction. Some of the properties sold for as much as 1.74 billion yuan. That's compared with its beginning price of 780 million yuan.

Land transaction volume has grown significantly since May. So far, a total of 820-thousand square meters of land have been transacted. That more than double the volume of transactions during the first four months of this year.

And this is not an isolated case. In May, at least 60 cities across China witnessed and upward trend in land transactions.