Mainland residential land prices fell 14 per cent last month from April as developers grew cautious about acquiring sites given their growing inventories of unsold new homes and the tight credit environment.
The average price of land for homebuilding declined to 1,101 yuan (HK$1,345) per square metre last month, according to China Index Academy, a real estate research institute that monitors 300 cities.
Last month, 542 residential sites comprising a total of 22.97 million square metres were sold, down 33 per cent from a year ago.
'Fewer residential sites were sold last month partly due to higher inventory levels in the new-home market,' the academy said.
2,154 plots of land - inclusive of commercial and industrial land - were sold last month, down 5 per cent from April.
Real estate consultancy DTZ said inventories of unsold new homes continued to rise despite a rebound in home sales last month.