China Real Estate Developers:Vol. up wow, inventory stayed largely flat in the 5th week of Aug

Aug 27-Sep 2 transaction volume and ASPOn a wow basis, 21 of 32 cities with data available saw volume increase,with a group median of +6% (vs. +3% for the week ended Aug 26). On ayoy basis, 22 of the 30 cities with data available saw volumes increase,with a group median of 53% (vs. +58%). Compared with the July 2012weekly average, 21 of 33 cities with data available saw volume increase,with a group median of +9% (vs. +2%). Relatively, Tier-1 cities in aggregateperformed stronger than Tier-2/3 cities, and Southern China outperformedamong the regions. In terms of ASP, on a wow basis, 8 out of 12 cities withdata available on median level saw prices increase, with a group median of+2% (vs. flat); on a 3-month cumulative basis, 9 of 12 cities with dataavailable saw prices increase, with a group median of 4.2% from the prior3-month average.

Ytd performanceAs of end Sept 2, 35 cities with data available saw average weekly vol in Aug2% lower than July average but 54% higher than 2011 average. Ytd, 16 of the26 cities with data available on a median level saw volumes increased with agroup median of 13% yoy (vs. +10%). In terms of ASP, 17 out of the 27 citiessaw prices decrease ytd, with a group median of -5% yoy (vs. -5%).

Inventory levelsTotal inventory for 13 cities was down 0.2% wow (vs. -0.1% for the weekended Aug 26) and according to the 12-month rolling GFA sold, averageinventory take-up time (for the 13 cities we track) decreased to 14.3 monthscompared with 14.5 months in the week ended Aug 26. Among 13 cities wetrack: (1) inventory declined in Beijing, Guangzhou, Dongguan and Ningbo;(2) inventory is stable in Shanghai, Fuzhou, Suzhou, Xiamen andChangchun; (3) inventory is still growing in Shenzhen, Nanjing, Qingdaoand Hangzhou.