Luxury real estate with ashes on the tropical island of the Phoenix

It was not called the "Chinese Dubai" recently: the island of the Phoenix, a set of skyscrapers in the shape of sails in the southern China Sea, was recently the embodiment of the real estate boomluxury in the second world economy.

On this artificial island with avenues bordered by palm trees, surrounded by tropical waters, the dizzying fall in the prices of the apartments is revealing today of the weaknesses of the Chinese economy, still in strong growth, but where the money is notalways invested in a very profitable way.

A "seven stars" hotel is under construction on the island, still promoted by local authorities as a serious pretender in the title of "eighth wonder of the world".

But in the water of the swimming pools where the white towers and the red and yellow convertibles are reflected, rare are the signs of human presence in the middle of winter, however high tourist season on the tropical island of Hainan.

Entrepreneurs who had torn off the properties now seek to get rid of them in order to reimburse the credits contracted, because their profits have melted, particularly in the exporting industries that suffer from the crisis in Europe.The rise in wages in China puts pressure on the margins of producers and exporters of "the world factory".

The apartments on the Phoenix Island had reached the staggering price of 150,000 yuan ($ 24,900) per square meter in 2010.They are now offered for 70,000 yuan, according to Sun Zhe, a local real estate agent.

"I have just received a call from a businessman seeking to sell at all costs," said M..Sun, which circulates in the middle of the futuristic district aboard an electric cart.

"Whether it's toys or clothes, export is not doing well.The owners need capital quickly and want to get rid of their apartments, "explains this agent who assures that his customers" really feel the impact of the financial crisis ".

And their precipitation risks bursting the luxury real estate bubble: "There is a time when people want to withdraw their bets, and that is when you see if there are other loans to payso high prize, ”comments Patrick Chovanec, professor of economics at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

Hainan, the most southern province in the country, is the size of Belgium.It has experienced the highest increase in real estate prices since the recovery plan launched at the end of 2008 by Beijing in reaction to the global financial crisis, which gave credit to credit.

At the time, prices increased by 50 % per year, and investors camped in tents in the streets of the island to buy.

But the policy implemented to avoid training a bubble in real estate has resulted in restrictions on borrowing and purchases of multiple housing by individuals.

In the north of the island, the residence "Jardins du Bon Augure with view of the sea", with villas on the beach and library of 100,000 works, saw the prices, which had peaked at 12,000 yuan ($ 1995)The square meter last year, falling a third party.And a third of the accommodation did not find takers.

"Before government restrictions, we sold a complex like this in just five months," laments Yang Qiong, sales manager of the residence.

The Chinese have invested massively in stone, long the best way to enhance their savings when many have lost feathers on the stock market.

Pillar of the Chinese economy, real estate weighed almost 14 % of GDP last year.In the country, the increase in housing prices causes growing dissatisfaction: the greatest number no longer has the means to become the owner.

Anger is also directed against corruption.In recent weeks alone, several cases of managers who bought many apartments, sometimes thanks to false papers, have made the headlines.In a case, a policeman had acquired 192 housing units in the same city in the province of Guangdong, neighboring Hainan.

But despite bills which would oblige civil servants to make public the list of their property, real estate agents do not report massive sale on their part.Even in Hainan, whose tropical beaches are deemed to be very popular with officials with a long arm.