Currently, the price of rosewood furniture has dropped back to what it was 10 years ago! On the 15th, I learned from an interview that due to the impact of the financial crisis, the price of rosewood furniture has significantly declined, with the largest decrease being over 40%. The drop in prices has prompted the collection market to rapidly warm up; many collectors believe that the price of rosewood furniture has reached a turning point and have started to buy at the bottom.
"This is an order placed this morning by a customer from Laixi, Shandong via phone, totaling about 580,000 yuan." In the morning of the 15th, at a rosewood furniture store on Hong Kong East Road, staff member Xiao Zhang took out an order form and said. I saw that this order included a set of huanghuali wooden armchairs, a small yezi zitan (small-leaf purple sandalwood) luohan table, and a set of two-piece chicken wing wood carved flower bookcases. According to the staff, after the Spring Festival, the number of customers coming to the store to place orders gradually increased.
"After the Spring Festival, the transaction volume of rosewood furniture in Shandong has clearly rebounded, which is closely related to the drop in prices." Said Manager Jiang, the person in charge of the furniture store. Last week, the largest order was around 1.5 million yuan, for a set of Vietnamese huanghuali wooden top chest cabinets and antique shelves.
"Currently, the prices of Vietnamese huanghuali, small-leaf purple sandalwood, and red酸branch wood have significantly fallen. From the entire market perspective, the decline ranges between 30% to 40%." Said Manager Liu from Chang Le Road Ming-Qing classical furniture in the northern district of Qingdao. It was introduced that taking small-leaf purple sandalwood as an example, last September, the international price was as high as 700,000 to 800,000 yuan per ton, but currently, the price has dropped to around 400,000 to 500,000 yuan, with a price reduction close to 40%. In addition, the price drops for Vietnamese huanghuali and red酸branch wood are also around 30% to 40%. At one store, a luohan bed originally priced at 120,000 yuan can now be purchased for 80,000 yuan.
"The sharp fall in the prices of these three types of raw materials is mainly due to the natural correction of unreasonable price increases in previous years under the influence of the financial crisis." Said Manager Hu Shijie from Gu Yue Tang Ming-Qing classical furniture. Furniture made from Vietnamese huanghuali, small-leaf purple sandalwood, and red酸branch wood appreciated the most in value over the past two years, almost doubling. Meanwhile, the appreciation rate of ordinary chicken wing wood was between 40% to 50%.
According to Hu Shijie, small-leaf purple sandalwood, Hainan huanghuali, Vietnamese huanghuali, and red酸branch wood are known as the four famous woods. Currently, only Hainan huanghuali's price remains stable due to market shortages. In Hu Shijie's store, I saw a top chest cabinet consisting of two cabinets and a Xuan Guang antique shelf priced at 8 million yuan. It was introduced that currently, the market price of Hainan huanghuali wood is 4,000 yuan per catty, and five years ago, making this set of top chest cabinets required 1,300 catties of huanghuali raw material. Calculating based on the current market price of raw materials, the value of just the raw materials reaches 5.2 million yuan.
Many buyers have begun to purchase at the bottom
"The current price has dropped back to what it was 10 years ago. The scarcity of rosewood raw materials and the sole preservation value of finished furniture products determine that now is the best time to make a move." At a furniture store, citizen Mr. Yu said. He has studied rosewood furniture for more than 10 years. Between 2006 and the first half of 2008, furniture made from Vietnamese huanghuali, Hainan huanghuali, and small-leaf purple sandalwood appreciated the most in value, almost doubling. Meanwhile, the appreciation rate of ordinary chicken wing wood was between 40% to 50%, said Mr. Yu. According to Manager Hu Shijie, if calculated from 2004, the prices of redwood furniture made from huanghuali wood and small-leaf purple sandalwood and other precious woods have risen significantly.
A 40% drop in prices over the past decade is unprecedented, but currently, in places like Jinan and Beijing, the price of redwood has shown signs of stabilizing after falling, and it is expected to rebound significantly soon. Mr. Yu said. According to Manager Hu Shijie, the local redwood furniture market is gradually becoming active, and many buyers have begun to purchase at the bottom. With the improvement of the economy, the price of redwood furniture will strongly rebound! Hu Shijie said.
Sold for 280,000 yuan, bought back for 580,000 yuan
During my interviews, I found that although many newly-made redwood furniture items are being sold at 70% or 80% discounts, many stores specializing in Ming-Qing imitation ancient furniture have put up signs for the recovery of old furniture. Redwood furniture that hit the market 3 to 5 years ago, if there are no obvious scratches caused by use, we are willing to buy them back at 200% of the original price. A manager of a redwood furniture recycling store said.
Although the price of redwood raw materials generally continues to rise, purely handcrafted imitation Ming-Qing style furniture has already acquired certain collection value, so the 200% buy-back price is understandable. Hu Shijie from Gu Yue Tang Ming-Qing furniture specialty store said. It was introduced that in 2004, he once sold a landscape full-flower luohan bed made from Hainan huanghuali wood for 280,000 yuan, but in March of last year, he bought it back from the owner for 580,000 yuan. In his view, despite spending an extra 300,000 yuan, after passing through the low period, this bed will definitely appreciate again. (Editor: Tian Tian)