Shimao Property Holdings Ltd, a Chinese developer whose credit rating was cut on Friday on funding concerns, said it signed contracts to sell 1 billion yuan (US$146 million) of property during the week-long National Day holiday on the mainland.

The Shanghai-based firm, which didn't give a year ago comparison, said it was now confident of hitting its full year 14 billion yuan sales target, Bloomberg News said.

Property demand in Chinese cities has dropped by as much as half since the government last year raised minimum down payment requirements and increased rates on some mortgages to cool home prices, CSC Securities HK Ltd analyst Liu Bin said last month. Moody's Investors Service cut Shimao's rating for the second time in less than three months, citing "weak cash sales."

Most of the properties sold in the holiday ended yesterday are in second and third tier cities where "markets are relatively stable," Shimao said, citing projects in Suzhou and Xuzhou in Jiangsu Province.

(Shanghai Daily October 6, 2008)