The author has been described by News Ltd as an "iconoclast", "Svengali", a pollie's "economist muse", and "pungently accurate". Fairfax says he is a "Renaissance man" and "one of Australia’s most respected analysts." Stephen Koukoulas concludes that he is "85% right", and "would make a great Opposition leader." Terry McCrann claims the author thinks "‘nuance’ is a trendy village in the south of France", but can be "scintillating" when he thinks "clearly". The ACTU reckons he’s "an enigma wrapped in a Bloomberg terminal, wrapped in some apparently well-honed abs."

Monday, August 20, 2012

Oops--doomsayers wrong again: Chinese property prices rise

Another embarrassing moment for all those who claimed that the Chinese housing market was rooted. From TD Securities:

Over the weekend the 70 city property prices were released for July. It was a solid outcome, with New prices rising in 49/70 cities and Existing prices rising in 38/70 cities. In June, those ratios were 25/70 and 31/70 respectively.

Of the major cities, decent prices rises were recorded right across the board in July (chart, source Bloomberg, Haver). Shanghai +0.2%, Beijing +0.3% Guangzhou +0.7%/mth etc.

With property prices rising so strongly, it is likely that RRR and policy rate cuts to boost broad-based growth will be offset somewhat by leaving existing property controls in place. This ensures that another unwelcome property price boom doesn’t materialize in China.
at 3:05 PM