House Prices Still Falling, but More Slowly

House price across China continued to decline, but at a slower pace, in December amid improved sentiment among buyers, according to the latest survey. 

Price drops were registered in 66 cities last month, compared to 67 in November. Prices were flat in three, unchanged from a month earlier, and they rose only in Shenzhen in the south, the National Bureau of Statistics, which tracks house prices in 70 major cities, said on January 18th.

“New home sales in the 70 cities climbed almost 9 percent in December, mainly boosted by revised mortgage policies by local governments, interest rate cuts by the central bank as well as developers’ ambitious plans to reduce inventory during the year-end period,” said Liu Jianwei, the bureau’s senior statistician. “That helped prevent home prices from shedding at a faster rate.”

In December, the price of new and pre-owned houses in the 70 cities fell by an average 0.2 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively, from November. That compared to an average decline of 0.4 percent and 0.5 percent in November.

New home prices in Luzhou, in southwest China’s Sichuan Province, fell 1.3 percent from November to lead the drop nationwide. That compared with a maximum 1.4 percent decline in November and 1.6 percent drop in October, according to bureau figures.

While second and third-tier cities continued to register price declines, though at a slower rate, the four first-tier cities saw average prices grow in both new and existing home markets last month.


Shanghai Daily