A Nanjing land auction held on 10 November saw the price of a second-hand plot in Jiangning ETDZ plummet by 35 per cent. The 24,000 sq metre plot was originally bought in November 2007 by Nanjing Huaguang Real Estate for Rmb202m after fierce bidding. But by July 2008, the company still hadn’t paid the full balance and the local state assets management department legally withdrew the plot and confiscated the company’s down payment of nearly Rmb55m.

The plot was put up for auction again, but it attracted only two bidders. Baoren Real Estate won with a bid of Rmb133m, only 65 per cent of the price the first time round.

By contrast, retail property prices in Nanjing are on an upward trend. The city reported a 5.8 per cent average year-on-year increase in retail housing prices in October, one of the biggest increases in the country.