Nearly-completed Shanghai high-rise falls over

This early fall means no matter the disaster, it still saved a lot of other unspeakable disasters – were it have been already occupied…

----------

Posted: 28 June 2009 1434 hrs

The collapsed 13-floor residential building which was under construction in Shanghai, China

SHANGHAI: A nearly-completed 13-storey Shanghai apartment building toppled over, killing a worker and raising concerns in China's largest city over construction standards, state media reported Sunday.

Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng ordered a full investigation into the cause of the incident, which occurred Saturday in the southwestern part of the city, the Shanghai Daily reported.

"It was horrible. The building fell down very quickly after several workers ran out of it," Fang Zenghui, whose home faces the building from across the creek, was quoted as telling the newspaper.

"It was very loud. I was stunned and couldn't believe what I'd just seen," he said.

A 28-year-old migrant worker, surnamed Xiao, who entered the building to collect his tools, was killed after trying to jump out of a window as the building fell, the newspaper reported.

About 130 nearby households were evacuated and inspectors were examining the foundations of seven other identical buildings in the "Lotus Riverside" compound, saying they appeared to be intact Saturday evening, the report said.

The incident was a new blow for Chinese property developers, who have been severely hit by a sagging market amid the global financial crisis.

Those who bought apartments in the development were demanding refunds and explanations, the report said.

Developer Shanghai Meidu Real Estate and Shanghai Zhongxin Construction Co said they were contacting owners and negotiating refunds, the newspaper said, adding 77 per cent of the homes had been sold.

The building fell Saturday morning a day after about 83 metres (272 feet) of the nearby riverbank collapsed, apparently due to the construction of an underground parking garage being built on the site, the report said.

Construction company employees had been working through the night Friday to shore up the riverbank, the report said.

Concerns over poor construction and low-quality materials have plagued China's construction industry as the country rapidly builds up its cities and infrastructure needed to maintain its growing economy.

Anger over poor construction boiled over during after last year's earthquake in central China after about 7,000 schools collapsed and relatives of dead children spoke out against graft they believed led to shoddy construction.

- AFP/yb

From ChannelNewsAsia.com; see the source article here.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Block of flats collapses in China (telegraph.co.uk)
• 13-story Building Topples (neatorama.com)

Amid the signs of recovery...

CHANNELNEWASIA: MONEY MIND

Is now the time to invest in Asian property stocks?

Frederick Lim, frederickl@mediacorp.com.sg

THE 20- to 30-per-cent rally in Asian property stocks in the past few months is not sustainable, say experts, who believe prices are likely to fall further for most markets in the months ahead.

Henderson Global Investors thinks the current rally in property counters is not being backed by fundamentals.

“In the physical property market, values are clearly falling in most, if not all, markets,” said Mr Patrick Sumner, head of Property Securities at Henderson Global Investors. He believes there is a strong chance property values in Asia could fall further if banks that have been holding back on forced-selling of distressed assets bring them onto the market.

“You have quite a large volume of properties which are not being sold. If the banks actually start forcing the sales of these properties, they would make their own balance sheets look rather shaky. I think it will take some time for the whole market to clear at a price that both sellers and buyers find satisfactory,” said Mr Sumner.

According to Henderson, the recent rally in property securities has been driven by positive sentiment in the equity markets.

But property developers suggest there are signs that the property market is turning positive, based on sales volumes, and that could provide some support for property stocks ahead.

Yanlord, a high-end property developer based in China, said certain segments of the Chinese real estate market are showing signs of recovery.

“We have seen our transaction volumes increase from about 200 million yuan in November and December last year to 1 billion yuan ($215 million) in March this year,” said Ms Michelle Sze, head of Investor Relations at Yanlord.

Mr Justin Chiu, executive director of Hong Kong developer Cheung Kong Holdings, said the time is ripe to look for opportunities in the real estate sector.

“As real estate fluctuates in tandem with economic cycles, the current downtrend in Asia has opened up opportunities for favourable entry,” he said.

He believes the best opportunities are likely to be found in markets like Hong Kong, Singapore and, in particular, China.

As for the Singapore property market, developer CapitaLand is seeing a medium-term rebound for the high-end segment, especially with Singapore trying to attract top foreign talent.

“Singapore aims to become a global city focusing on wealth management, high-end talent and lifestyle. Does this strategy have legs? I, for one, am very confident,” said Mr Olivier Lim, group chief financial officer at CapitaLand.

For more on this story and other investment-related topics, catch Money Mind this Sunday at 9.30pm on Channel NewsAsia.

From TODAY, Business; Friday, 15-May-2009