Art Tactics survey warns speculative bubble forming in Chinese contemporary art

Art Tactics has warned in its latest report that Chinese contemporary art market is on a two-track journey - driven by different market dynamics and different type of buyers (mainland China and international buyers)and warned that a speculative bubble might be forming.






According to their latest report, the Chinese contemporary art market has moved into first place in terms of Market Confidence, 21% above the US & European market Confidence Indicator, and 34% above the Indian Confidence indicator. The recent results show a Confidence Indicator reading of 81, which is 12% higher than September 2010, and confirms the strong positive sentiment in the current

The confidence in the Chinese Contemporary market has been on a rapid path of recovery since February 2009, with 75% of the experts surveyed believing the market will go up in the coming 6 months, with a further 19% thinking it will remain flat. Only a small minority of 6% feel the market could fall. It is clear that the momentum built up in the Chinese art market in 2010 is starting to have a wider impact on the international art market, the report said. Last month, according to the recent TEFAF report, China became the second largest art market in the world, overtaking the UK. Also, the tables are being turned in the
Chinese art market, where the two domestic auction houses, Poly and Guardian, have overtaken Sotheby’s and Christie’s in terms of auction volume of contemporary Chinese art, although the survey raises concerns about the sustainability of the rapid growth experienced in the Mainland Chinese market since 2009.

But an analysis of the Speculation Barometer for mainland Chinese and international auctions shows a worrying disparity. The Barometer is currently at 6.1 for the international Chinese Contemporary Art auction market, which puts it in the upper ‘Medium’ Speculation level, only 2% higher than the last reading in September.  But the Speculation Barometer for the Mainland auciton market is at 7.8 – which puts it in a ‘High’ speculation category, with 71% of the experts rating the speculation level between 8 and 10. This raises concern about the sustainability of the rapid growth of the Mainland market, and suggests that a speculative bubble might forming, the report stated.