Cities with home price growth continued to increase in May

The number of Chinese cities recording month-over-month price growth in both new and existing markets continued to rise in May, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Friday.

Nationwide, 61 cities saw new home price increases from a month earlier, compared with 58 cities in April. In first-tier cities, new home prices in Beijing and Guangzhou climbed 0.2 percent and 1.8 percent, respectively, from April, while those in Shanghai and Shenzhen shed by 0.2 percent and 0.1 percent from a month ago, according to the bureau.

In the pre-occupied housing markets, 61 cities registered monthly price growth, the highest number since the second half of 2017.

"May is the traditional high season for property sales when momentum among home buyers usually picks up as the market encounters its first major rebound in a year," said Lu Wenxi, senior manager of research of Shanghai Centaline Property Consultants Co. "The latest 'talent wars' launched by local governments in several Chinese cities also boosted sentiment and helped push up prices."

For instance, new home prices in Sanya and Haikou of Hainan Province jumped 2.4 percent and 2.1 percent in May from a month ago, while those in Chengdu and Zhengzhou advanced 2.1 percent and 1.6 percent, the bureau's data showed.

In the 15 hottest cities where the toughest rein-in measures have been implemented, mixed performances were registered. Nine cities saw new home price growth from a month ago. Five recorded decreases and the remainder stayed unchanged.

On an annual basis, new home prices in seven cities increased and those in the remaining eight declined.

Data released yesterday by the bureau showed that new home sales in China rose at a faster pace in the first five months of this year in terms of both value and volume.

About 4.13 trillion yuan (US$644.7 billion) worth of new homes, excluding government-subsidized affordable housing, were sold between January and May around the country, a year-on-year rise of 12.8 percent. That compared with the 9.5 percent expansion in the first four months.

The area of new homes sold during the same five-month period climbed 2.3 percent to 490.66 million square meters, also accelerating from the 0.4 percent increase registered in the first four months.