HOUSING prices are expected to further drop by 30 percent in 2012, returning to the level of April in 2009, if the tightened regulatory policy remains unchanged, according to a meeting of local housing agents Tuesday.

    Major housing agencies Centaline Property, Zhonglian Real Estate, DTZ and Shenzhen World Union Properties Consultant (SZWUPC) all offered pessimistic forecasts towards the market this year.

    “Transactions of preowned apartments will stall at 5,000 units per month”, said Li Zhiyao, manager of Centaline, which means a 43 percent decrease compared with last year.

    2011 has seen low transactions under the tightening policy as statistics showed transactions were of 8.2 million square meters, a 33.62 percent decrease from 2010, the lowest in 11 years.

    SZWUPC predicted that housing prices would go down in 2012 and may hit their bottom by the end of the second quarter as the economy seeks a soft-landing, and resumes warming-up in the second half of 2012. Centaline believed that more buyers may turn up as prices drop while potential homebuyers may take some risks in buying new properties. (Zhao Jie)