beyondbrics

Just as the Chinese government is trying to rein in soaring house prices a real estate developer in Beijing has unveiled what Chinese media report is by far the most expensive apartment ever built in the country.

The luxury penthouse apartment of more than 1,000 sq m is on sale for Rmb300,000 per sq m, or a total price tag of more than Rmb300m ($46.2m), according to an unnamed representative of the developer, quoted in Chinese media.

Ironically, the luxury residence is located right next to the Diaoyutai State Guest House, the official compound in western Beijing where Madame Mao and the other members of the ultra-leftist “Gang of Four” established their headquarters during the upheaval of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976).

Today, almost any western corporation with enough money can rent out a villa and hold a corporate event in the Diaoyutai compound, with its manicured lawns and attractive water features.

So what justifies a price tag that would probably be enough to buy you a nice island somewhere with a decent climate and clean air?

According to the property’s spokesman, the price was decided after taking into account the location, the furnishings, the layout and the “subtle details”.

That subtlety apparently extends to carparks in the development, which are reported to be selling for Rmb45,000 per sq m – in a city where the average annual wage in 2009 was Rmb57,800.

The person also revealed that although some people have looked at the apartment nobody has actually bought it.

However, some of the more reasonably priced apartments in other parts of the complex, which are going for between Rmb130,000-160,000, have been sold.

From a quick glance at the website for the “Heritage Estate” development (known in Chinese as “Diaoyutai Courtyard Number 7”), the exorbitant price tag hardly seems justified.

In fact, given how the price has conveniently been leaked to the media, a cynical observer might conclude that the astronomical price is meant to be the main selling point for the place, even if it does look a little bad at a time when the government is trying to encourage austerity in the property market.

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