- Yang Huiyan has seen her wealth decline to $11 billion from over $24 billion this year.
- Yang is now only about $100 million shy of Fan Hongwei in terms of wealth.
- The boycotts have also caused banks to be less willing to grant mortgages.
As China’s real estate crisis worsens, Yang Huiyan, the richest woman in Asia, has seen her wealth decline to $11 billion from over $24 billion this year, according to an international website’s billionaire Index.
The largest real estate developer in China by sales, Country Garden Holdings, is under the leadership of the 41-year-old. She acquired a sizable portion of the business from her father Yang Guoqiang, who launched it in 1992 in Foshan, Guangdong province.
The value of Country Garden’s stock has decreased by more than half this year as the nation’s real estate industry battles declining property prices, waning buyer demand, and a debt default problem that has enveloped some of its top developers since last year.
Yang is still the wealthiest woman in Asia, according to the website’s billionaire index, despite having lost more than half of her fortune.
Yang is now only about $100 million shy of Fan Hongwei in terms of wealth thanks to the decline in her net worth, which has also reduced the wealth disparity between her and other Chinese billionaires who are women. Fan is the chair of chemical fibre manufacturer Hengli Petrochemical.
Evergrande, the most indebted real estate company in China, missed payments on its US dollar bonds in December as a result of ongoing liquidity problems.
Since then, a number of other significant developers, including Kaisa and Shimao Group, have also applied for creditor protection.
The housing problem has gotten worse recently as a result of threats made by thousands of irate homebuyers who put down payments on incomplete houses and now fear they won’t be able to afford their mortgage payments.
Country Garden is likewise experiencing escalating financial problems. In order to raise HK$2.83 billion ($361 million), or around 13% less than its Tuesday closing price, the developer stated on Wednesday that it will sell shares.
According to the corporation, some of the revenues would be utilized to pay off its debt incurred abroad.
In a report released on Wednesday, analysts at Capital Economics stated that the mortgage boycotts pose a dual threat to developers and the housing market.
They have called attention to the issue that cash-strapped developers are unable to finish properties that they have already sold, which is “putting off new homebuyers.”
They said that the boycotts have also caused banks to be less willing to grant mortgages, which might further dampen real estate sales.
S&P Global Ratings said earlier this week that mortgage strikes might trigger a third decline in property sales in China this year, as customers fear that developers won’t be able to finish presold units in time, which is the most typical method of selling homes there.
Without sales, many more developers would fail, which poses a risk to both the banking system and the economy, according to analysts.
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