The Wall Street Journal reports on China. "Pan Shiyi, the co-founder and chairman of Soho China Ltd., is taking a very bearish view on the housing market, which has struggled this year. Demand is also weakening in an expanding number of cities as banks tighten mortgage lending and sales are dampened by widespread expectations of price cuts. 'I think China’s property market is like the Titanic and it will soon hit an iceberg in front of it,' Mr. Pan told a financial forum on Friday, according to the China Business News. 'After hitting the iceberg, the risks will not only be in the real estate sector. The bigger risk will be in the financial sector,' he added."

"He said serious problems lie with financial products like trust and wealth management products, as well as entrusted loans that charge higher interest rates than banks and are key financing vehicles for the property sector. 'When housing prices fall 20% to 30%, these problems will be all exposed,' he was quoted as saying."

From Reuters. "The Chinese developer behind an eight-storey clubhouse with a billion-dollar view over Shanghai's Huangphu River is turning to lower-end coffee shops and restaurants to fill the space, as a broad anti-graft campaign puts the brakes on conspicuous spending. Developers and owners of luxury residential property are also feeling the heat. 'The Beijing market is particularly slow. There's a lot of supply because people are dumping their high-end property into the market because of anti-corruption,' said a manager of a property company who declined to be named."

"In Beijing's secondary home market, the number of units on sale in April doubled from January to 14,622 units, while average selling prices eased 2.4 percent during the period, according to property brokerage Midland Holdings. In Shanghai, a manager at a developer said sales of villas had been hurt as some investors were opting to go overseas. 'It's hard for an ordinary person to have many assets; one has to have power to generate money, and it's difficult for him to be totally clean. These people have to protect themselves and their family so they'd rather invest overseas,' said the manager, who declined to be identified."

From NTD TV. "Since 2014, the Chinese property market has been suffocated with a glut of real estate inventory, sluggish sales, and a sharp drop in transaction volume. The market is awash with various promotional activities. Recently, ‘Zero Down’ was launched in Beijing. In the Greater Beijing area, lower-cost promotions were also heavily promoted recently. Prior to May 1, developers in Guangzhou also advertised slogans such as 'Move in with zero down payment.'"

"Duan Shaoyi, Beijing Normal University MBA instructor and economic columnist: 'It is the eve of the real estate bubble burst, many people are aware of it. They are hoping that the promotion will push up sales and reduce the losses in the future bubble burst. My advice is to sell the house as soon as possible. In the place where I live, 70% of the houses are occupied by mice, 20% by house nannies, and only 10% by the real owners.'"

Want China Times. "More than 30 Chinese cities, excluding Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, plan to relax restrictions imposed on housing purchases because of the slowdown in the country's real estate market. 'The housing market in China is not just slow but cold. If the downtrend continues, risks will be posted in the market,' said an executive from a major real estate developer, adding that agencies might go out of business if the trend continues."

"The trend of bankruptcies in Wenzhou continues unabated, according to a study conducted by the Chinese-language Economic Information Daily, while restricted lending to enterprises has made matters worse. It is understood that Zhejiang courts processed 346 cases of bankruptcy in 2013, up 145% from the previous year, and the total debt of the bankrupt enterprises amounted to 159.5 billion yuan (US$25.6 billion), nearly six times the 24.3 billion (US$3.9 billion) in 2012. Of these, the number of businesses going bankrupt in Wenzhou totaled 198 and the situation could be even worse this year."

"Sources also indicated that over 90% of guarantee companies in Wenzhou have gone out of business. 'The credit system is on the brink of collapse and we are afraid it will be difficult to make a breakthrough in financial reforms this year,' a business source in Wenzhou told the paper.'"

From Forbes. "On Friday last week the owners of Hong Kong-listed Greentown China Holdings, announced that they would be selling up to 30 percent of their stake in the Hangzhou-based company to sometimes-partner Sunac Holdings. The sale would mean a relinquishment of control in the oft-troubled developer, which has been struggling during China’s current real estate slowdown."

"The company’s soon-to-be former chairman Song Weiping played the part of wounded warrior in the message posted on the company’s website, comparing the sale of the controlling interest in Greentown to his future demise. The tycoon declared that, 'Leaving the real estate industry makes it possible to preview death.'"

"'This year will separate the men from the boys' in China’s real estate market. That was the prediction from Ronnie Chan, the billionaire chairman of Hong Kong’s Hang Lung Properties, when I appeared with him at a real estate event in Shanghai last month. This seems to be the type of bear market moment that more experienced developers, such as the proudly non-PC Chan, relish."

"'In the past companies in China have not gone bankrupt. This is crazy. Bankruptcy is good,' Chan stated. He added, 'You need to use the toilet every day. You have to discharge something.'"