The narrowing of residential transaction price increases and tightening of credit have transmitted the real estate tycoons' predicted "pessimistic" sentiment to the land market. In March, the land market cooled abruptly. As of March 25, land transfer fee revenue in tier-1 cities was only 8.45 billion yuan, compared with 32 billion yuan in the same period last year.

 

　　As of March 25, total land transfer fees in tier-1 cities for the first quarter reached 152.768 billion yuan. Considering that some plots will still be transferred this month, as of March 31, cumulative land transfer fee revenue in tier-1 cities for the first quarter is expected to exceed 160 billion yuan, up 83% from 87.2 billion yuan in the first quarter of 2013.

 

　　Today and tomorrow, five land parcels will enter the Beijing (property project) market, with a combined starting price of 6.576 billion yuan. Zhang Dawei, chief analyst at Centaline Property, expects the final transaction amount to exceed 9 billion yuan. Among them, the Laiguangying price-capped plot, the Jiugong residential plot, and the Fengtai Science Park commercial and financial plot may attract market attention, while the Tongzhou Liyuan and Xiagezhuang plots may see limited enthusiasm.

 

　　Zhang Dawei believes that while the Beijing property market is cooling, the land market is also gradually showing signs of cooling. Judging from land bids, enthusiasm has already somewhat declined compared with before. Beijing's subsequent land market may gradually diverge: competition for popular plots will remain white-hot, while some far-suburban plots may cool down and see reduced competition due to the impact of self-use housing supply.

 

　　It is worth noting that although land transfer fees in the first quarter of this year rose significantly year on year, most of the land transfer revenue was obtained in the first two months. As of March 25, land transfer revenue in the four tier-1 cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen was only 8.45 billion yuan. Not only tier-1 cities, but tier-2 and tier-3 cities also showed a trend of slowing land premium rates in March.

 

　　From the corporate perspective, as of recently, the total land acquisition amount of the top 10 benchmark real estate enterprises in the first quarter was 77.6 billion yuan, equivalent to 20% of the 388.5 billion yuan acquired in 2013. Most benchmark real estate enterprises have shown signs of slowing land acquisition.