In the event the announcement didn't come. It seems to have had a major impact on Shenzhen property prices, driving them down recently - although there seems to be no agreement on the exact cause of the reversal of fortune.
I have sent out a few emails to registered investors suggesting that if they wish to beat the deadline they should pick a property and call us. In fact, perhaps sensibly, nobody did. Whether the deadline was real or not, there was certainly a rush to buy: I was asked to choose between three fairly ordinary small apartments in Gong Bei, but 24 hours later when I contacted Lua with my guidance she told me that they had all been sold!
The Adword advertising continues to bring emails from around the world from individuals who seem to know a great deal about the China real estate market. I have been thinking about appropriate structures for collective investment: REIT vs non REIT, listed vs non-listed, tiered structures with holding companies in tax havens etc. etc. I remain agnostic on the various claimed benefits, but not on the soundness of the China economy. Of course eventually the growth will run out of steam, but with GDP growth about four times that of the strongest growing western democracies it must have some way to go.
