New home prices grow slower to mark stability

STABILITY continued to be the key word for housing markets in 15 Chinese cities where varied rein-in measures to quell speculation remained unchanged with slower year-on-year growth in new home prices recorded again in June, data released today by the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

The 15 cities, including four first-tier and some key second-tier ones, registered year-on-year price growth decelerating 0.8 to 5.5 percentage points compared with May, according to the bureau, which monitors prices in new and pre-owned home markets in 70 major cities.

On a month-on-month basis, six cities recorded new home price gains, unchanged from May and April. Guangzhou in southern Guangdong Province saw a rise of 0.5 percent, the largest monthly increase among all gainers.

"For nine consecutive months, prices of new and pre-occupied homes in first-tier cities recorded slower year-on-year growth," said Liu Jianwei, a senior statistician at the bureau. "On a month-over-month basis, prices of new and pre-occupied homes in the four cities retreated by 0.1 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively."

In second-tier cities, year-on-year price growth of new homes dropped for the seventh straight month in June and price growth of existing homes declined for the fifth consecutive month, the bureau's data showed.

In Shanghai, new home prices shed 0.2 percent from May and gained 10 percent from same period of last year, the bureau said.