, state media said Thursday, citing research from the nation's top economic planning agency. Property investment will still grow by more than 20 percent in 2007 but there will be fewer buyers, the National Development and Reform Commission said in a report carried by the China Securities Journal.
In the first nine months of 2006, investment in new housing increased 29.5 percent from a year earlier while sales were up 17.8 percent, the newspaper said.
The commission said demand for housing would weaken in 2007, meaning industry growth would not reach 10 percent, and decline further over the next two years.
"We estimate the real estate market will enter into a sluggish period in 2008 at the earliest, 2009 at the latest," the commission said.
Despite the expected decline, the commission said the government needed to speed up legislation on property tax, adding the impost should be levied on owners with land of more than 30 square meters (320 square feet).
Property ownership has emerged as a major factor in distinguishing between the haves and the have-nots in China as rising real estate prices increase the wealth of home owners, sometimes exponentially.
