Land sale revenue set to hit record above $491 bln

Revenue derived from local government land sales could hit a record of above 3 trillion yuan ($491 billion) in 2013, after a flamboyant year for the property market, according to China Index Academy, a Beijing-based real estate research institute.

The academy, which tracked land sales in 300 cities, said combined land transfer fees came to 3.13 trillion yuan in 2013, a surge of 50 percent over 2012.

The actual area of land sold rose just 10 percent year-on-year, indicating a surge in land prices.

Shanghai's land sales topped the list with 226.2 billion yuan for 2013, 128 percent higher than for 2012. It was closely followed by Beijing's 182.18 billion yuan, 181 percent higher than in 2012.

Hangzhou, Chongqing, Nanjing, Wuhan, Tianjin, Foshan, Guangzhou and Suzhou also saw rising revenue from land sales.

The figure came as new residential housing in 100 Chinese cities rose by 0.7 percent month-on-month to 10,833 yuan per sq m in Dec, according to the academy.

The rise represented the 19th consecutive month-on-month rise.