Chapter 2617

It turned out that the person who called was Xu Xiaoguang. He said he had already arrived in Hujiang City and asked where Su Xinghui was, saying he would come over immediately. Su Xinghui told him his room number at the municipal government guesthouse, and Xu Xiaoguang said he understood.

In less than half an hour, Xu Xiaoguang drove over. Su Xinghui met him in his room. As soon as they met, Su Xinghui smiled and punched Xu Xiaoguang on the shoulder: "You kid are becoming more and more mature now!"

Xu Xiaoguang smiled bitterly: "What becoming more mature? Getting older, right? Dark and thin, my wife says I'm old every day."

Su Xinghui laughed out loud. Xu Xiaoguang could be considered a person who could hold his own in Haimin Construction and Hongtu Real Estate now, but he still hadn't lost his true colors. He still often appeared on construction sites, exposed to wind and sun every day, so wasn't he getting older?

Xu Xiaoguang was only a little over a year older than him, just thirty years old now, but he looked almost like a forty-year-old person.

Su Xinghui said, "This time your Hongtu Real Estate is going to develop a property project in Hujiang City, right?"

Xu Xiaoguang nodded and said, "Yes, this time we took a piece of land in the center of Hujiang City, not far from the Hujiang Municipal Government, to develop a property project. This project is very important, and the company sent me to Hujiang City to be fully responsible for this project."

Xu Xiaoguang's expression appeared ambitious. This project was indeed very important to him, because this project was too big. Doing the whole thing would be about 200,000 square meters or more. At the current housing prices in the center of Hujiang City, this project would have sales of over one billion.

And if this project could be successfully completed, it would mean that Hongtu Real Estate had successfully gained a firm foothold in this mega-city of Hujiang, which was a very critical step for Hongtu Real Estate.

Su Xinghui smiled: "Then I must congratulate you, President Xu!"

Xu Xiaoguang laughed and said, "What president? In front of you, I will always be Xu Xiaoguang. I'll treat you to dinner tonight, we must have a few good drinks!"

Su Xinghui nodded and said, "Alright. By the way, Xiao Guang, let me ask you, is the real estate market in Hujiang abnormal now?"

Xu Xiaoguang said, "Are you talking about the current housing prices in Hujiang City?"

Su Xinghui nodded.

Xu Xiaoguang said, "Yes, since this year, housing prices in Hujiang City have indeed risen quite sharply, generally rising by twenty percent, and some high-end properties have even risen by more than thirty percent."

This increase might not count for much more than a decade later, when the property markets in some large cities in China even created the myth of doubling within a year, but at this time, it appeared a bit conspicuous.

Because Premier Nan had always been trying his best to suppress housing prices, the increase in housing prices had always been very gentle. An annual increase of ten percent was considered quite high. An increase of more than twenty percent within these few months was indeed a bit high.

This was also the reason why Premier Nan had arranged a special task for Su Xinghui.

Su Xinghui said, "Then do you know the reason for such a sharp rise in housing prices in Hujiang City?"

Xu Xiaoguang said, "Of course I know. This is mainly the result of speculation by several large real estate companies in Hujiang City."

Su Xinghui said, "Why do they speculate, and what are their speculation methods? Do you know all this?"

Xu Xiaoguang said, "I know it too well. Why speculate? For one, they can make more money, and for another, they can create a panic among homebuyers, making them think that housing prices will continue to rise and they won't be able to buy if they don't buy now. This makes homebuyers take out money to buy pre-sale properties, which allows developers to recover funds in advance and make more money!"

"As for their speculation methods, let me tell you something, and you'll understand. A few days ago, the Jinyintan residential area developed by Hujiang Fuqiang Real Estate Development Company was snapped up as soon as it opened, but industry insiders know that most of those purchase contracts were signed by their own internal employees."

Xu Xiaoguang's words made Su Xinghui laugh. There really is nothing new under the sun. He had seen such speculation methods on the internet in his previous life, but now these were the routine tactics of these real estate development companies.

Xu Xiaoguang said, "By the way, why are you asking this? You seem to be investigating state-owned enterprises this time, right?"

Su Xinghui said, "The higher-ups are quite concerned about housing prices in Hujiang City, so they asked me to investigate the reasons while I'm at it. For this kind of thing, I can only ask you, of course."

Xu Xiaoguang showed a surprised expression. Su Xinghui worked in the Policy Research Office of the State Planning Commission and was a staff officer and think tank for central leaders. Doesn't this mean that central leaders are concerned about housing prices in Hujiang?

Xu Xiaoguang let out a long sigh of relief and said, "Fortunately, I followed your advice and kept the prices of the properties developed by our Hongtu Real Estate low, otherwise, we would definitely have been targeted by the higher-ups."

Hongtu Real Estate Development Company was developing quite well now. They had developed properties in major cities across the country and had also developed a property in Hujiang City, which was currently on sale.

Su Xinghui had always told Xu Haimin and Xu Xiaoguang not to set housing prices too high. Therefore, Hongtu Real Estate Development Company kept a clear head when housing prices in Hujiang City were soaring and did not follow the crowd to raise prices indiscriminately. This could be considered a clear stream among large real estate development companies in the country.

Su Xinghui said, "You guys are steady and solid, building a good reputation, which is the right path for development! Companies that rely solely on speculation will sooner or later have problems."

Xu Xiaoguang nodded and said, "Yes, now that the company is getting bigger and bigger, I feel this more and more."

Su Xinghui asked, "Which are the real estate development companies that speculate the most in Hujiang City now? Do you know what their backgrounds are?"

Real estate development companies that can develop properties in a mega-city like Hujiang City and have no one manage them even when they speculate like this must have backgrounds.

Xu Xiaoguang nodded and said, "Of course I know this..."

Xu Xiaoguang then mentioned the names of several companies. The largest and strongest background was the Fuqiang Real Estate Development Company he just mentioned. Their chairman, Jin Fuqiang, had Tang Wenyu, the Executive Vice Mayor of Hujiang City, standing behind him.