Always Sunny in Shunyi

For the past four years, Hong Kong-Canadian Leanne So has helped Beijingers rent some of the most exclusive and luxurious properties in the east part of the city as a realtor at Bel & Well Property. Agenda sat down with her to learn more about this faraway suburban haven.

Tell us a little bit about Shunyi.
The Central Villa District, more commonly known as Shunyi or just the airport area, houses the vast majority of Beijing’s villa projects, better-known international schools, and a wide array of international retail establishments. Its cleaner, quieter and more spacious family-friendly surroundings give the area a high-end North American suburban ambiance.

The Central Villa District has long been an expat favorite, especially among North American and European professionals who come to China with their families. Part of the draw for this is the large amount of international schools here. The International School of Beijing, Western Academy of Beijing, Dulwich, the British School, Montessori School Beijing and several others are either based in the area or will have a campus nearby.

Another reason that Shunyi is so popular is that it is blessed with space – and a lot of it! The area is home to several large-scale leisure facilities found nowhere else in the city, including a water park, hot spring resorts, golf courses, equestrian and horsemanship clubs and an indoor ski resort, to name only a few.

There’s also the Shunyi Rowing and Canoeing Park, which hosted several of the 2008 Olympics’ water events, the China International Exhibition Center, which is the city’s largest exhibition center, and the Shunyi Park and the Jian River Park, which are cultural and environmental sites.

What kinds of properties are available in this area?
The most sought-after properties in the area are those that have at least four bedrooms and a children’s play area, and projects that have excellent in-property facilities such as a complete and well equipped clubhouse. Generally speaking, the properties in this area have three or more bedrooms, you can expect to spend anywhere from RMB 30,000 per month on a three bedroom villa, and up to RMB 100,000 per month on a larger villa. If you’re looking to buy, you should prepare to spend between RMB 50-60,000 per square meter, and an additional RMB 10-15 per square meter per month. There aren’t too many high-end apartment buildings in this area, but if someone is looking into renting one, the Beijing Riviera really stands out.

Unlike the rest of Beijing, villa properties in Shunyi are exempt from regular market trends and fluctuations. Regulations put in place to limit the quantity of land-consuming villa projects were one of the first instruments used by Beijing policy-makers to control property prices. This lead to an imbalance between supply, which has been stable, and demand, which has kept on increasing. For investors looking for regular and tangible returns on their investment, nothing beats buying a villa property in the area, especially since the area has been targeted by city developers to become the capital’s sixth multicenter, serving as Beijing’s logistics and hi-tech manufacturing hub, catering to the automotive and aerospace industries. The development of large-scale office and retail projects is planned for the next ten years.

That being said, the property market throughout China is one of the most important pillars of the most vibrant economy in the world. This sometimes gives it a “too big and too important to fail” aura. As for the Beijing market, being the capital of China always has its upside. Property in the capital will always remain strong – and thus continue to be a safe bet.

Is it convenient to travel between Shunyi and Beijing?
Shunyi has become much more accessible in recent years. In addition to the Airport Express, the new subway line 15 is under construction, and the first phase is set to be completed by December 28, 2010. This will incorporate Beijing’s northern centers into the city’s light rail system. In addition, aside from regular inner-city bus routes, several express buses go directly from Sanyuanqiao and Dongzhimen to Shunyi. Many villa compounds also manage shuttle buses servicing residents from the compounds to the inner city.

How do you address the particular needs of the clientele in this area?
We cover a wider range of services, so we are really much more of a complete property service provider. We also always consider our clients as partners in business, so instead of simply providing them with one-off services, we have built an organization that aims to provide long-term benefits, so it’s a collaboration that benefits both sides.

One of the things we pride ourselves on is helping clients to eliminate as much risk as possible before they make their decision. We usually offer our clients service packages, for example, instead of providing brokerage services; we also provide location consulting pre-brokerage, financial and legal advisory during brokerage and asset management post-brokerage services.

What advice would you give to our readers on renting or buying an apartment?
Today’s potential home renters and buyers are blessed with the opportunity to venture beyond increasingly congested and overpriced business and embassy districts. Sadly, many real estate providers’ range of expertise falls short of matching the city’s ever-growing range of options. Most agents will quite rightfully claim to be experts in high-end downtown apartments, but might not know much about the other options available.

So what I would advise your readers to do is to clearly state your wants and needs, and if the options offered fail to expand beyond inner-city apartments, get a new provider. During actual viewings, ask compound-specific questions and if you’re given no more than a “I’ll get back to you on that later,” get a new provider.

To learn more about these properties and more, contact Bel & Well Property International at 8591 0218 or visit www.bel-property.com.cn.