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Last weekend, hundreds of angry homeowners in Pudong faced off riot police and smashed up the office of their real estate developer for offering discounts of up to 30% for units in their apartment complex. Yesterday, a similar, smaller-sized protest took place in Jiading. Via Shanghai Daily:
About 200 homeowners yesterday besieged a property developer’s offices, angry that prices have been slashed by 30 percent since they bought their homes.
Residents in Qiuxiafang, a project developed by Shanghai-based Greenland Group in Jiading New Town, demanded that their deals be cancelled.
“We require a refund because the loss we are suffering now is too great for us to afford,” said a homeowner, surnamed Wang.
“Of course, for breach of contract, we are willing to take some default punishment.”
Wang bought an apartment at Qiuxiafang last December for around 17,000 yuan (US$2,673) per square meter. But the homeowner recently learned that Greenland Group is now offering a price of 11,600 yuan per square meter in an effort to boost sales.
In the past week, homeowners have visited the Qiuxiafang sales office eight times demanding their money back – without success.
Ten police officers were present yesterday, though to date protests there have been peaceful.
Expect to hear more of such protests in the weeks ahead as property developers continue to slash prices to lure in the buyers. Real estate portal Soufun.com says 161 new housing developments are scheduled to roll our promotions and discounts to prop up their November sales.
