Discounts to shrink at Beijing property expo

Few discounted property projects are expected to be on display at the 2012 Beijing International Property Autumn Expo, according to a report in the Beijing Times.

The expo, which will be held from Sept 20-23, will showcase more than 160 high-quality real estate projects from all over the country.

Beijing projects account for nearly a quarter, with a variety of property types including garden houses, villas, residential apartments and commercial blocks.

Unlike the spring expo — in which many developers greatly reduced prices to attract buyers — only two developers in Beijing are willing to offer discounts at the autumn expo.

"The trading volume of the property market is very optimistic now, naturally there will be less discounts," the deputy secretary of the expo's organizing committee, Zheng Xiangdong, told the Beijing Times.

China's housing market was hit by a downturn at the beginning of the year, when tightening policies such as higher down payments and stricter mortgage requirements started to take effect. Now as the market rebounds, discounts have been withdrawn and foreign investors are showing interest.

"China's housing market has great appeal to foreign investors, and we have to extend the exhibition hall for foreign projects since we have too many of them," the director of the expo's international department, Wei Kefei, told the Beijing Times.

About 140 foreign projects from more than 30 countries and regions are expected to be at the expo, setting a historical high.