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THE rapid development of the mainland's high-speed rail network will make it easier to get around and bring new opportunities for real estate investment, property consultants say.
This month, a Chinese-made passenger train hit a world-record speed (for an unmodified model) of 486.1 km/h on a test run from Zaozhuang in Shandong to Bengbu in Anhui, part of the Beijing-Shanghai link due to open by 2012.
By 2020, the mainland plans to have a 16,000km high-speed network, the most extensive in the world, for trains travelling at up to 350km/h.
"The impact will be most remarkable on the residential sector, as the improvements in accessibility will encourage people to move from overcrowded city cores to less densely developed zones in search of an improved living environment," international property consultant CB Richard Ellis noted in a report titled "China's high-speed rail network and the promotion of regional urban development".
Commercial property would also get a substantial boost, it said, as a high-speed rail system would encourage the emergence of new development nodes with increased commercial development potential.
"Station areas will directly benefit from their cities' improved connectivity as a result of the infrastructure boom. This will stimulate higher demand for high-end commercial facilities, providing a host of new opportunities for real estate development in each city," Andrew Ness, executive director of CBRE Research Asia, said. Maureen Fung, general manager for leasing at Sun Hung Kai Real Estate Agency, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sun Hung Kai Properties, said retail properties would be a major beneficiary of the high-speed network. "Inaccessibility makes it difficult to attract shoppers, even if a mall is nicely decorated. But the outcome will be totally different if transportation to the mall is improved," she said.
The high-speed rail network will connect some 80 cities in nine major urban regions supporting a total population of nearly 700 million and accounting for about 74% of the mainland's gross domestic product. Cities that stand to benefit include Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Xian and Chengdu.
A case in point is the Beijing-Shanghai line, which will halve the travel time between the two cities to four hours when it opens. Railway officials estimate the route will handle 80 million passengers in each direction a year.
SHK's Fung expects this will generate a big increase in shopping traffic to the group's Shanghai IFC mall in Pudong. The 1.1 million square foot shopping mall is home to 25 luxury brands, including Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Hermes, Gucci and Prada.
SHKP is building a 1.2 million sqft shopping centre in Huaihai Zhong Road, the busiest shopping area in Shanghai, which is due to be completed in phases from next year.
Lina Wong, managing director of Colliers International's east and southwest China division, said inter-city travel would increase as a result of improved transport facilities. "It will completely change the way we do business and encourage people to travel more frequently," she said.
The high-speed train service between Shanghai and Hangzhou opened on October 26, cutting the journey time by half to 45 minutes. This would generate more business activities as well as both cities tourism, said Wong. "More Shanghai people will be tempted to spend a weekend in Hangzhou," she said.
Residential, retail and hospitality development would benefit most from the rapid development of the high-speed railway network, Wong added.
The first high-speed line opened between Beijing and Tianjin in August 2008, and a little more than two years later the mainland now has 7,431 kilometres of high-speed rail track in operation — more than any other country in the world. Wong said it would not be surprising to see prices of apartments located close to train stations serving the network increase 30% next year if no further austerity measures were unveiled to rein in rising home prices. — SCMP
This month, a Chinese-made passenger train hit a world-record speed (for an unmodified model) of 486.1 km/h on a test run from Zaozhuang in Shandong to Bengbu in Anhui, part of the Beijing-Shanghai link due to open by 2012.
By 2020, the mainland plans to have a 16,000km high-speed network, the most extensive in the world, for trains travelling at up to 350km/h.
"The impact will be most remarkable on the residential sector, as the improvements in accessibility will encourage people to move from overcrowded city cores to less densely developed zones in search of an improved living environment," international property consultant CB Richard Ellis noted in a report titled "China's high-speed rail network and the promotion of regional urban development".
Commercial property would also get a substantial boost, it said, as a high-speed rail system would encourage the emergence of new development nodes with increased commercial development potential.
"Station areas will directly benefit from their cities' improved connectivity as a result of the infrastructure boom. This will stimulate higher demand for high-end commercial facilities, providing a host of new opportunities for real estate development in each city," Andrew Ness, executive director of CBRE Research Asia, said. Maureen Fung, general manager for leasing at Sun Hung Kai Real Estate Agency, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sun Hung Kai Properties, said retail properties would be a major beneficiary of the high-speed network. "Inaccessibility makes it difficult to attract shoppers, even if a mall is nicely decorated. But the outcome will be totally different if transportation to the mall is improved," she said.
The high-speed rail network will connect some 80 cities in nine major urban regions supporting a total population of nearly 700 million and accounting for about 74% of the mainland's gross domestic product. Cities that stand to benefit include Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Xian and Chengdu.
A case in point is the Beijing-Shanghai line, which will halve the travel time between the two cities to four hours when it opens. Railway officials estimate the route will handle 80 million passengers in each direction a year.
SHK's Fung expects this will generate a big increase in shopping traffic to the group's Shanghai IFC mall in Pudong. The 1.1 million square foot shopping mall is home to 25 luxury brands, including Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Hermes, Gucci and Prada.
SHKP is building a 1.2 million sqft shopping centre in Huaihai Zhong Road, the busiest shopping area in Shanghai, which is due to be completed in phases from next year.
Lina Wong, managing director of Colliers International's east and southwest China division, said inter-city travel would increase as a result of improved transport facilities. "It will completely change the way we do business and encourage people to travel more frequently," she said.
The high-speed train service between Shanghai and Hangzhou opened on October 26, cutting the journey time by half to 45 minutes. This would generate more business activities as well as both cities tourism, said Wong. "More Shanghai people will be tempted to spend a weekend in Hangzhou," she said.
Residential, retail and hospitality development would benefit most from the rapid development of the high-speed railway network, Wong added.
The first high-speed line opened between Beijing and Tianjin in August 2008, and a little more than two years later the mainland now has 7,431 kilometres of high-speed rail track in operation — more than any other country in the world. Wong said it would not be surprising to see prices of apartments located close to train stations serving the network increase 30% next year if no further austerity measures were unveiled to rein in rising home prices. — SCMP
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