China home sales will rise 11%, says developer Sunac

[SHANGHAI] Sunac China Holdings Ltd, the Chinese developer in which buyout firm Bain Capital LLC has a stake, expects home sales to rise at least 11 per cent this year from last year amid strong demand from rich buyers.

The developer's home sales will exceed 50 billion yuan (S$10.19 billion) this year as it focuses on mid-to-high-end properties in major cities including Beijing and Shanghai, chairman Sun Hongbin told reporters in Suzhou, last Thursday. The Tianjin-based homebuilder in January forecast sales of 45 billion yuan for this year.

Sunac is expanding amid resilient demand for luxury housing in big cities even as the government maintains residential curbs, Mr Sun said. New home prices in China's four major cities rose in August the most since January 2011, led by a 19 per cent jump from a year earlier in Guangzhou in southern China, according to data issued on Sept 18 by the National Bureau of Statistics.