Early in 2012, it was fashionable to call Chinese real estate a bubble on the verge of popping. The media, hedge fund managers and a number of analysts prophesied the coming end of China’s building boom and the disastrous consequences it might have for commodities markets.

But not Credit Suisse. In February 2012, the Swiss bank’s commodities research team published a note arguing that a recent slowdown in Chinese housing sales was just a temporary blip and that Chinese real estate construction