Cheung Kong, the Hong Kong developer controlled by billionaire Li Ka-shing, said efforts by China to cool its property market are “timely” after record price gains.

“You want to take action before the market gets too hot,” Justin Chiu, executive director of Cheung Kong, said in a Bloomberg Television interview today. “Prices have gone up really quite a lot; people buying for their own use should do it within their means. If they invest, they need to be cautious about interest rates.”

China, the world’s third-biggest economy, yesterday raised mortgage rates and down payment ratios for some home purchases, with the nation’s cabinet saying “more forceful” steps are needed to cool speculation after property prices rose at a record pace. Residential and commercial real-estate prices in 70 cities climbed 11.7 percent from a year earlier in March.

bloomberg.com