China’s property companies are used to rapidly constructing assets. In the past year, they’ve taken those skills into the financial realm.
Increasing numbers of real estate firms have looked to replace expensive international debt with cheaper onshore funding, after finally being given access to China’s onshore bond market in January.
According to data-tracking firm Dealogic, China’s property developers have already raised $60 billion via domestic bonds this year. They look likely to raise another $56 billion in local debt in 2016, according to Citi.
Their desire to raise onshore funds makes sense. The developers often have to pay coupons of around 8%...