The elevation of "coordinated development of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region" to a national strategy has brought positive expectations for the development of the areas surrounding Beijing. Although specific plans for the integration of Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei have not yet been introduced, housing prices in many projects in the surrounding areas have already seen widespread increases, with transaction volumes surging.

 

　　Analysts believe that blindly developing and building houses and investing in property purchases is not the intended meaning of the coordinated development of the three regions, and may recreate the risks of "sleeping cities" and "ghost cities."

 

　　Although it is not the weekend, the sales offices of two housing projects near the intersection of Hengxiang North Street and Longchang Road in Baoding City are still bustling with people.

 

　　"This project has been on sale for almost 3 years, and sales had been flat, but starting last week, customers suddenly surged," said a property consultant at the project named "Lijing Lanwan." The current price for high-rise units is 6,400 yuan per square meter, and nearly 50 units were sold over the weekend, equivalent to the sales volume of the previous two months.

 

　　It was already lunchtime, and Ms. Li, a property consultant at another commercial housing project next door, was still busy running around. "I don't even have time to eat lunch," she said. "Happiness really comes too suddenly. Sales this week hit a new high. The average price for mid-rise units is 7,200 yuan per square meter, nearly 1,000 yuan more than before the Spring Festival. Next week, the unit price is set to rise another 300 yuan!"

 

　　Recently, Hebei Province issued the "Opinions of the Hebei Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government on Promoting New Urbanization," which included statements about Baoding and other areas taking on some functions from the capital, and industrial planning in the areas surrounding Beijing. The introduction of the opinions has once again caused "restlessness" in the real estate and other sectors.

 

　　In areas adjacent to Beijing such as Zhuozhou and Gu'an, some real estate project advertisements bear the words "The integration of Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei has been elevated to a major national strategy, and buying property in western Beijing presents the best historical opportunity." Some projects even advertise "500 units sold in one hour" and "buy now and profit immediately," further stimulating the nerves of homebuyers.

 

　　Data provided by the Baoding Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau in Hebei Province show that in 2013, a total of 14,786 commercial housing pre-sale contract registrations were processed locally, while from March 1 to March 24 this year, 3,474 registrations were processed—nearly a quarter of last year's total in less than a month.

 

　　However, the news that emboldened real estate developers and investors has "frightened" local residents. "Housing prices in Baoding have always been stable. Due to limited savings, I originally planned to buy a house next year. Seeing this momentum, if I don't buy now, I'm afraid I won't be able to afford one next year," complained Ms. Zhang, a Baoding resident who is looking at houses. Hebei and Beijing have not yet achieved integration, but housing prices are integrating first.

 

　　A resident surnamed Li in Gu'an County, Langfang City, said that the monthly income of ordinary local residents is around 3,000 yuan, but housing prices per square meter have long exceeded 6,000 yuan. Rising housing prices will also drive up other prices.

 

　　Zhu Zhongyi, vice president of the China Real Estate Association, said that the integration of Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei is a major trend in new urbanization. The areas surrounding Beijing will take on some functions from Beijing and undoubtedly gain new development opportunities.

 

　　"Development companies are using the national strategy for extensive speculation, making the integration of Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei a marketing gimmick, and even suspected of exaggeration," Zhu said. If there is a lack of industrial support and only blind development and construction of houses, blind investment in property purchases risks creating "sleeping cities" or "ghost cities."

 

　　"The integration of Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei is not a new concept, and the effects have always been不明显, indicating that this work cannot be achieved overnight," said Yi Peng, director of the Urbanization Research Center at the International Finance Forum. Localities should reduce speculation on concepts and introduce more practical measures. Excessive interpretation can easily cause market fluctuations.

 

　　Industry insiders point out that from tackling environmental pollution to alleviating population and resource pressures, and to promoting industrial transformation and upgrading, the current integration of Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei focuses more on overall planning in functional positioning, industrial division of labor, facility support, and transportation systems, rather than emphasizing rapid development of a particular area. If explosive growth in real estate is driven solely by locational advantages, the effectiveness of coordinated development will be greatly reduced.