While the brokers churn out research fretting about a possible slowdown in China’s property market as a result of inflationary pressures and tighter monetary policy, their fears hadn’t infected most participants at the PERE (private equity real estate) Forum in Hong Kong February 15 and February 16.
Indeed the mood was positively optimistic. Most attendees confessed to being surprised by just how resilient the real estate market has been in the face of policies from Beijing to damp down both demand and prices. For example, only 2 per cent of the participants thronging the meeting room at the Four Seasons hotel thought restrictions on bank lending posed any risk at all to the property story in China.
“It is still business as usual for developers,” said one Standard Chartered banker. “We are comfortable with real estate in China.”