China Overseas Land's May sales jump, rivals follow

HONG KONG, June 8 (Reuters) - Top Chinese property developer China Overseas Land (0688.HK) said its property sales in May soared 113.9 percent year on year to HK$5.65 billion (US$724 million), as demand for homes remained strong.

China Overseas Land over the weekend said its sales for the first five months totalled HK$20.3 billion, up 80.1 percent from the same period a year earlier.

The developer, which has a total land reserve of 24.8 million square meters, sufficient to meet its development use in the coming five years, said no new land was bought in May.

Rival developers also posted growth in May sales. China Vanke (000002.SZ) (200002.SZ) posted a 19.7 percent year-on-year rise in contract sales in May to 6.41 billion yuan ($938.2 million), bringing total contract sales value for the first five months to 23.89 billion yuan, up 20.9 percent from a year earlier.

Smaller rival Greentown China (3900.HK) recorded a 193 percent year-on-year jump in May sales to 6.2 billion yuan, bringing its five-month total to 11.5 billion yuan, up more than 85 percent from a year earlier.

Greentown said the average contract selling price for the first five months increased 12 percent year on year to 11,251 yuan per square meter.

Chinese property transactions have picked up in recent months thanks central government stimulus measures, which have fuelled buying appetite for domestic property on the mainland.

(US$1=HK$7.8=6.832 yuan)

(Reporting by Donny Kwok; editing by Chris Lewis)