Dive Brief:

• There are signs that the real estate market in China, a boom sector of the country's economy for several years, may be starting to cool off.
• One developer defaulted this week on $400 million in loans, the rise in property values began to slow in January and there are "ghost suburbs" where high-rises go unoccupied.
• Property is one of the few places Chinese can invest their money, and a pull-back in that sector could spell trouble for the overall economy, as it did when prices collapsed in the U.S.

Dive Insight:

There have been suggestions that an economic slowdown in China could benefit American contractors by reducing global demand for construction materials and lowering prices. Economic disruptions seldom are isolated in their effects, however.