* Some signs of softening in home and land prices
* Developers say home buying demand remains healthy
* They see any dips in land prices as buying opportunity
* Adds to toxic mix of risks in property sector
By Clare Jim
HONG KONG, Nov 3 (Reuters) - As China's property market shows signs of softening, the country's resurgent 'land kings' say they are ready to seize on any price weakness to buy more building plots - a conundrum for policymakers grappling with a toxic mix of risks in the sector.
Any indication developers are poised to increase their buying is likely to unnerve authorities, given the unprecedented debt burden these companies already carry. Many of China's most indebted companies are developers.
"Developers won't stop buying land, they're just waiting for the right moment," said Rosealea Yao, analyst of Gavekal Dragonomics based in Beijing.
Home and residential land prices have soared in many parts of China this year, prompting authorities to introduce restrictions on buyers and the ability of developers to raise fresh funds.
Over 20 cities have announced cooling measures over the past few weeks and the provider of China's official purchasing managers' index said on Tuesday that residential prices were showing signs of easing in October.
Land prices in top-tier cities, where most of China's property rally has played out, have fallen in the past month, research company CRIC said. The total land sold fell by 38 percent in October from September and the overall value of transactions dropped 49 percent, it said.
But property heavyweights say any cooling in prices is a chance to buy more land. Demand for new homes in big cities is still healthy - tales of couples divorcing to get better mortgages or sales of cupboard-sized flats abound - and residential housing supply is tight.
"We don't expect the property market to crash because of the tightening. It's still very cheap to borrow money," said an executive at a developer that has bought a dozen top-end land parcels across China in the last quarter.
"If prices come down somewhat, we'd be more optimistic on the health of the market," he said, declining to be identified as he was not authorised to speak to the media.
Another executive at a Shanghai-based developer said his group would sweep in: "Once land prices soften, we will jump back into the market especially in first-tier cities."
DEBT BURDEN
But underlining the debt risk, some analysts estimate China's newest land kings - the names given to companies willing to pay sky-high prices for land - would need home prices to surge more than 100 percent in the next three years to cover their costs.