Shares of properties in Baoding, a city in northern China's Hebei province, bordering Beijing, have surged significantly over the past few days as rumors arose that a proposed government policy may considerably favor the city. The rumors have also caught the attention of Beijing and Baoding residents, who believe the policy will bring about business opportunities, reports the Chinese-language Beijing Youth Daily.
The paper found that housing developers in Baoding have erected ads highlighting the benefits of buying property in the city, fueling enthusiasm among potential home buyers and boosting the local housing market.
The journey from Beijing to Baoding takes only 40 minutes by high-speed rail. A salesperson at a housing development company told the paper that the company had sold 10 offices and houses in a single day earlier this month, while the day before contracts for 130 units were signed.
The salesperson said the smallest office covered an area of 200 square meters and was sold for about 1.4 million yuan (US$227,400), while the smallest house covering only 40 square meters was priced at 300,000 yuan (US$48,700).
Although the government has denied rumors that the joint development of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei is related to the city, market expectations about more businesses in Beijing relocating to Baoding have been on the rise. This has fueled investors' interest in considering buying homes or offices in the city and prompted some of them to place orders.
A worker at a property company stated that the company had seen a sharp rise in the number of potential customers on March 19, with some inquiring about related government policies and some others expressing an interest in placing orders.
A woman who said she regretted not having bought a house during the boom in the housing market in 2004 told the paper that the current housing prices in Baoding are similar to those in Beijing in 2004 though she had not yet decided whether to buy one because the situation is still unclear.
On the other hand, university student Yao Yie told the paper that she had read reports on the internet about opportunities being created as a result of the development of Baoding and expressed hope that more high-income jobs would be created locally as she would choose to stay and work in the city after graduation.
Baoding's total production value in 2013 was pegged at 268 billion yuan (US$45.5 billion), ranking fifth in Hebei. However, the development of the city lags far behind its neighbor Beijing. So far, the city has yet to see a Starbucks Coffee outlet, the paper said, adding that this provided plenty of room for the development of entertainment, catering and restaurants and public services in the city.
