By Tu Lei (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2008-03-05 16:26

Some experts believe Chinese housing prices are still the highest globally, despite major cities reporting sluggish real estate sales recently, according to a report from today's International Finance News that compared prices here with those in New York and Tokyo.

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Although New York's realty market may not have been as seriously hit the by the sub prime crisis as others, slow GDP growth in the United States has threatened the performance of Wall Street, and reduced demand for realty.

Li Xihuan, a consulting bank analyst from Dealogic in the United States, said, "The average price of an apartment in Manhattan was $1.4 million in the fourth quarter of last year, up 17.6 percent year on year."

But that average was boosted by high-end apartment sales: three times as many apartments priced over $10 million sold last year than in 2006.

In New York, the average price for per sq m is $2,059, and figures from the US Department of Commerce show the American average annual income was $36,000 or $3,000 per month.

And in Tokyo, residents pay 2.1 million yuan for an 80-square-meter home and one parking spot, or $3,657 for per sq m, while the average annual income there is $34,510, or $2,875 per month.

In Shanghai, the average income in the first half of 2007 was 12,278 yuan ($1,727), and yearly income was expected to exceed 26,000 yuan by year end, for a monthly income of 2,167 yuan ($304.84).

The latest figures from the Shanghai Statistics Bureau show housing per sq m in 2007 was 8,253 yuan ($1,160).

Ren Zhiqiang, President of Beijing Huayuan Construction Group, said it is meaningless to compare income to housing price instead of consumption ability.

"In the US, people may buy five or more vehicles with 2.0-liter displacement for $75,000, and how about Beijingers with an annual family income of 100,000 yuan? Maybe none."