Land shortages, high prices see developers looking further afield

The gap between limited supply and high demand for developable land in core cities has pushed up the price by 50 percent, denting developers' profit margins and driving developers and investors to seek land in suburbs and lower-tier cities.

A research note from Centaline Property Ltd said the top 40 developers, by sales revenue, in China have spent a combined 1.01 trillion yuan ($1,467.74 billion) purchasing land between Jan 1 and Nov 30, 2016 - an increase of more than 25 percent year-on-year. The average price was 6,062 yuan per square meter, a 50 percent year-on-year increase.

Five developers have each spent more than 70 billion yuan on land purchases, and 16 developers have each spent more than 20 billion yuan.