Poly Real Estate gets OK to set record-high housing price

China's Poly Real Estate Group Co Ltd has received regulatory approval to price a Beijing project at a record high of almost 100,000 yuan ($16,100) per meter square, signaling an easing on pricing policy for developers in the capital, a local report said on Monday.

Last month, seven projects in Beijing that received selling approval had planned to set prices above 40,000 yuan, a cap set by the local authorities last November, China's National Business Daily added. The cap made developers less interested in bidding for expensive land in the city.

Poly Real Estate Group disclosed on Monday that it has won bids for land sites in Guangzhou and Zhengzhou for a combined 3.15 billion yuan with partners. In June, its contract sales rose 34.2 percent year-on-year to 16.5 billion yuan.

Any move to drive up home prices in China, which are already near record levels, can be controversial. The central government would prefer that local authorities help curb property speculation because it fears unaffordable property prices could cause social unrest.

Meanwhile, some Chinese cities have tried to limit property price cuts to 15-20 percent from the original asking price, developers and real estate agents said in May, in a bid to slow a steeper industry downturn and boost confidence in the market.

The Beijing municipal housing commission granted the approval for the Poly project on June 14, according to a statement on its website.

Officials at the commission declined to comment.