New home sales in China rise at slower pace in first seven months
The value and area of new home transactions across China rose more slowly in the first seven months of this year as the market entered into a traditional low season for sales.
Nationwide, about 5.7 trillion yuan (US$853 billion) of new homes, excluding government-funded affordable housing, were sold between January and July, a year-over-year increase of 15.9 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement today. The pace slowed from a growth of 17.9 percent in the first half of 2017.
The area of new homes sold in the seven-month period climbed 11.5 percent from a year earlier to 748.7 million square meters, but this was also down from a 13.5 percent growth in the first six months, the bureau's data showed.
"July was the period when home seekers would prefer to sit on the sideline mainly due to the hot weather," said Lu Wenxi, senior manager of research at Shanghai Centaline Property Consultants Co.
"Meanwhile, the retreat was also normal since most developers had already geared up in June for better half-year results."
Investment in residential development, which took up 68.1 percent of total real estate projects in January to July, rose 10 percent year on year to 4.06 trillion yuan, down 0.2 percentage point from the first six months, according to the bureau.