Property prices increase in October (3)

Many small and medium-sized property developers have been forced out of the sector, so the market is now dominated by a powerful group of large listed property developers like China Vanke and China Poly Group Corp, who pursue higher returns by building higher-end homes, he said.

Second-hand house prices have been rising since March, albeit with growth of less than 1 percent since then, said Liu Yuan, research director at Centaline China Real Estate.

"The trend will not change within a short period of time," unless there is a big change in policies such as promulgation of property taxes nationwide and canceling of property presales, Liu told the Global Times.

Liu noted that policymakers tend to be cautious as they want to prevent a bubble in the housing market but also want to avoid a sharp decline, as both would be detrimental to the fragile economy.

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