Developers saw slower growth in Sept

China's leading property developers saw slower growth in September, third-quarter results showed on Wednesday.

In a statement filed with the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, China Vanke Co -- China's top real estate developer by market value -- reported monthly sales of 12.04 billion yuan ($1.90 billion) in September, down 3.76 percent year-on-year. It sold 1.05 million square meters of housing space, a 2.78 percent decrease.

In the first nine months, Vanke's revenue dropped 0.8 percent, compared with double-digit growth in the previous year. The September figures mark the end of the company's consecutive sales increase since May.

The country's second-largest developer, Poly Real Estate Group, posted 7.76 billion yuan of sales in September, down 8.5 percent month-on-month.

The Shanghai-listed Poly sold 6.69 million square meters of housing space by the end of the third quarter, up 34.03 percent compared with last year. Sales soared 32.04 percent to hit 75.6 billion yuan.

But the growth rate is still 6 percentage points lower than last year, and was a far cry from its peak in 2009 when the figure hit 165.2 percent.

Another industry heavyweight, China Merchants Property Development Co Ltd, saw revenue slide by 16.85 percent during the first nine months, and gross floor area sales declined by 18.76 percent.

Analysts believe that some property developers, especially those with good cash flow, are now expected to put more emphasis on increasing land parcels in the fourth quarter instead of boosting home sales.

hewei@chinadaily.com.cn