BEIJING: China’s stressed developers face nearly US$1.3bil (RM5.51bil) of bond payments in December, after a month in which investor sentiment toward the property sector showed signs of stabilising despite fresh signs of liquidity pressure.

       The total was US$2bil (RM8.48bil) in November, and there have been no defaults reported according to Bloomberg-compiled data as of Friday, after multiple instances in October.

       Still, investor scrutiny persists regarding principal and interest payments as a cash crunch engulfs the real estate industry.

       Centre stage is China Evergrande Group and Kaisa Group Holdings Ltd, two of the country’s biggest dollar-bond issuers. An Evergrande unit and Kaisa have grace periods ending by mid-December on a combined US$170.9mil (RM724.53mil) of coupons.

       November saw yields on a Bloomberg gauge of riskier notes surge to a record 24.6% early in the month before pulling back, amid signals that softer policies are on the way for property firms.

       But at around 20%, yields remain too high for most builders that need to refinance imminently maturing debt.

       Meanwhile, billionaire owners of Chinese developers have dipped into their own pockets and a reported plan to loosen controls for builders issuing local-currency bonds is likely to benefit only higher-quality firms, say analysts. — Bloomberg