CHINA Vanke Co., the nation’s largest property developer by revenue, said Saturday its January sales rose 45 percent from a year earlier to 27.65 billion yuan (US$5.8 billion).

    In January 2013, sales were 19.07 billion yuan. In December, sales were 10.95 billion yuan, the Shenzhen-listed firm said.

    By floor space, the Shenzhen-based developer reported sales of 1.95 million square meters in January, doubling from the 976,000 square meters in December. In January 2013, the company reported sales of 1.61 million square meters.

    For the whole of 2013, Vanke’s sales rose 21 percent to 170.9 billion yuan from 141.2 billion yuan in 2012.

    Major domestic property developers have been able to expand as the government’s campaign to rein in runaway housing prices has had more of an impact on smaller developers. As a result, smaller firms have less access to bank loans and credit.

    Despite Vanke’s strong sales last month, the gains are unlikely to be replicated among its peers and are unlikely to be sustainable, as pent-up demand for homes is digested.

    Analysts have said they expect nationwide growth in housing sales to slow down in 2014 after an extraordinary 26.6 percent jump in 2013, which is much higher than 2012’s 10.9 percent and 2011’s 9.2 percent. (SD-Agencies)