A SUBSIDIARY of Ke Holdings has paid 1 billion yuan (US$142 million) for a residential plot in Chengdu, setting a new record for the price per square meter of land in the capital of southwestern Sichuan Province, which the leading Chinese real estate agency intends to develop according to its new strategy of consumer-based property development. Beihaojia outbid 14 real estate companies including Greentown China Holdings and Overseas Chinese Town after 82 heated rounds of bidding. The housing development service platform, which uses big data analysis and artificial intelligence algorithms to uncover consumer needs, finally submitted the winning bid with a premium rate of 42.1% above the starting price. The Chengdu project is positioned as a high-end development that will fully realize Beihaojia’s consumer-to-manufacturer concept, a company insider said, as quoted by yicai.com. The C2M model cuts out the middle man, such as logistics, sales and distribution, and directly connects the consumer with the producer, therefore reducing the housing price. The Beihaojia team will independently manage the whole process from land acquisition and product positioning to design and marketing. At the end of July, a company under Beihaojia bought a commercial plot and a residential plot in Weiyang District, Xi’an in northwestern Shaanxi Province for 134 million yuan. Chengdu logged the greatest amount of residential property sales in the first six months of all China’s major cities, according to data from CRIC Sichuan. Some 6.1 million square meters of housing changed hands in the city, 60% more than in Xi’an which was in second place. (SD-Agencies) | 