Over the Weekend: Chinese Residential Property Sales Continue to Deteriorate

Over the weekend, the Wall Street Journal posted a story about continuing deterioration in the Chinese residential property market. This stokes the spirited debate over whether China is headed for a worsening economic crash or whether the Chinese Communist party can control the clear slowing of their economy and preserve their power while keeping a lid on social unrest which, though little reported, continues unabated in many locations.

Notice we're saying the Communist party rather than simply "the government." While both sides of the debate over the future of China's economy trade barbs, the real story may be the future of the Communist Party in China. Unless they keep the economy expanding to continue the growth of job opportunities for their population, which will sustain the increased wealth that "the people" - or at least some percentage of the population - has enjoyed in recent years. the Party may wind up in the cross hairs of unruly citizens long deprived of both economic prosperity and personal freedoms. And the demise of the Party, while probably good in the long run, will disrupt China's economy and reshape it's society, which will impact the rest of the world, as any disruption in China's growth drags the rest of us down.

The story posted, however focuses on the narrower issue of home sales:

Homes, which have been a popular investment for many Chinese households, are losing some of their appeal given the reduced outlook for price increases.

This rather mild report in the face of the issues facing the Party, obscures the really important story of the future of the Communist Party. But the fact that the story appears on the weekend may mean that there's growing concern over China's economic and social deterioration.