The transaction volume of Beijing's pre-owned houses in 2008 may see a drop of 23.2 percent on a yearly basis, the first fall in eight years, according to statistics from www.homelink.com.cn.

The research center of Homelink, one of Beijing's largest housing brokerage companies, said in a report today that transactions for Beijing's pre-owned housing was down 22 percent for the first 11 months of the year, falling from 85,906 units during the same period of 2007 to 67,034 units by the end of November 2008.

The major reason, said the report, is that the traditional "hot season" for pre-owned housing transactions was severely dampened by falling property prices and a strong wait-and-see sentiment.

But thanks to the government's measures to revitalize the market, transactions in December are expected to bounce, thus raising the total annual volume to hover at around 73,000 units. This however, is still down 23.2 percent year-on-year this year, said the report.

(China Daily December 26, 2008)