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TMG: It Sure Sounds Like Goldman Just Rang The Bell At The Top Of The Shanghai Housing Bubble

John Carney | Feb. 10, 2010, 3:47 PM | 541 |
The Money Game

Just a little over two years after Goldman Sachs bought a Shanghai residential project for $190 million, the Wall Street firm is now poised to sell it for $328 million.

A unit of the developer Shanghai Forte will buy Shanghai Garden Plaza for $328 million, Bloomberg reported this morning. The developer confirmed the purchase in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange.

Bloomberg's Cathy Chan reports:

Shanghai Garden Plaza was developed by Daito Trust Construction Co. of Japan and comprises 53 villa units and 511 serviced apartment units, CB Richard Ellis, a Los Angeles-based commercial real estate services firm, said in its report.

Goldman Sachs is selling Shanghai Garden Plaza after Chinese real-estate prices climbed the most in 18 months in December and Premier Wen Jiabao pledged to crack down on speculation and keep housing affordable.

Residential and commercial real-estate prices in 70 cities increased 7.8 percent from a year earlier in December, accelerating from a 5.7 percent gain in November, according to the government. China last month raised the amount of money banks are required to keep as reserves and re-imposed a sales tax on homes sold within five years of their purchase.

http://www.businessinsider.com/it-sure-sounds-like-goldman-just-wrung-the-bell-at-the-top-of-the-shanghai-housing-bubble-2010-2