Journal of Property Management

not existed in China have been introduced in Shanghai (a pilot rate of between 0.4 percent and 0.6 percent on newly purchased homes based on per-square-meter price of the property has been established), and speculation is being discouraged through higher interest rates and larger down payments on multiple homes.

ASPIRING TO ASSET MANAGEMENT

Speaking at the inaugural, held in tandem with the first asset management symposium in Shanghai, IREM President Ron Goss, CPM, drew upon both similarities and differences between the U.S. real estate market in 2008 and the current market in China. Goss made the case for real estate investment to adopt a new business model based on a return to the fundamentals and for property management to assume a more important and visible role in the real estate arena.

“Now is the time,” said Goss, “for property management
to be recognized as the value-added service that can turn
around troubled properties and squeeze returns out of
struggling portfolios.”
Goss went on to challenge the more than 200 real estate
professionals at the forum, most of whom were property
managers, to manage the asset—not just the building.

“As managers of these assets,” he said, “we are shouldering an increasing degree of responsibility for financial planning and strategic tasks. We are being expected to run our properties as the business enterprises they are.”

PROLONGED PARTNERSHIP

The Shanghai Chapter—which currently has 35 CPM Members—comprises the administrative divisions of Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhegiang, a fast-growing and affluent region that encompasses a population of nearly 150 million. The chapter formed from an agreement signed in 2008 between IREM and the Shanghai Weston Real Estate Management Institute, a division of Brawman International Group. IREM and Weston also signed an agreement to form a real estate management research center, which will provide members with professional resources, tracking of the property management sector and solutions to issues that emerge in the property management industry in China.

Liu said these new partnerships will provide resources

[RIGHT] Qi Liu, CPM, president of the IREM Shanghai Chapter No. 118.

[BELOW] Guests of honor
and presenters at the
First Real Estate Asset
Management Forum in
Shanghai.

of scientific know-how and professional networking opportunities to local real estate managers, which will definitely have a far-reaching impact on the industry of property management in the Yangtze River Delta and will progressively enhance the level of property management throughout China.

“We, CPM designees in China, will spare no effort to dedicate ourselves to the better tomorrow of real estate management in China,” said Liu.

And tomorrow is coming sooner than expected. Aside from Shanghai’s visible revival along the Bund River area, Liu said that Shanghai’s highly educated and skilled labor force is raising its professional stature, attracting more talent from throughout China and abroad, and making it appealing to overseas investors.

Liu said that spreading the Institutes’ theories and practical model of property management practices would contribute to a higher standard in China and promote the exchange between real estate managers and their counterparts in overseas countries.