Housing prices remain 'generally' stable across China

Housing prices in China remained generally stable in October as the domestic residential market continued to cool down amid strictly enforced tightening measures, official data showed today.

On a month-over-month basis, new residential housing prices in China's four first-tier cities stayed unchanged from September, according to the National Bureau of Statistics, which tracks home prices in 70 major cities around the country. They rose in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai, by 0.2 percent, 0.2 percent, and 0.1 percent, respectively, and fell 0.5 percent in Shenzhen.

In the pre-occupied home market, housing prices in the four gateway cities slipped 0.2 percent in September. They dipped in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, all by 0.2 percent, and dropped 0.6 percent in Shenzhen, the bureau's data showed.

In the 31 second-tier cities, home prices in new and existing markets climbed 1 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively, down 0.1 and 0.5 percentage point from a month earlier.

Mixed performances were registered in the 35 third-tier cities where new home prices rose at a faster pace of 1.1 percent, and existing housing prices climbed at a slower rate of 0.5 percent.

Nationwide, new home prices in Guiyang of Guizhou Province witnessed the biggest month-on-month increase of 4.2 percent, the bureau's data showed.

On a year-on-year basis, prices of new and existing homes in the four first-tier cities rose 1.2 percent and 1 percent, respectively, in October. In second-tier cities, they jumped 10.4 percent and 7.6 percent, respectively, and in third-tier ones, prices advanced 10 percent and 7.7 percent, respectively, in new and pre-occupied markets.

Data released on Wednesday by the bureau proved again a continuously cooling residential market.

New home sales by value, excluding government-subsidized affordable housing, rose 15 percent to 9.83 trillion yuan (US$1.42 trillion) between January and October, compared with the 15.6 percent increase of the first nine months.

By area, they increased 2.8 percent from the same period a year earlier to 1.15 billion square meters, also down from the 3.3 percent growth recorded in the first three quarters.

Investment in residential property development, which took up 70.8 percent of total real estate investment in the first 10 months, rose 13.7 percent year on year to 7.03 trillion yuan, decelerating from the 14 percent growth recorded in the first nine months, according to the bureau.