Falls in mainland China new home prices ease
Hopes of an immediate strong recovery continue to be weighed down by record high inventories
The drop in mainland home prices eased slightly for the third straight month in November following the government's measures to shore up the property market, but record high inventories continue to weigh on hopes of an immediate strong recovery.
Among the 70 major cities monitored by the National Bureau of Statistics, 67 suffered month-on-month drops in new home prices in November, compared with 69 in October. Prices were unchanged in the remaining three - Shenzhen, Nanjing and Hefei.
The secondary market performed better.
Prices of used homes saw month-on-month increases in six cities - Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Nanjing, Zhengzhou, Nanning and Xining.
Prices of used homes in Beijing rose 0.7 per cent in November from October, compared with October's increase of 0.3 per cent.
"A slew of policies have had a positive impact on property sales, with new home sales in 70 cities rising in November from October and hitting this year's highest level," senior statistician Liu Jianwei said.
"The month-on-month fall in home prices narrowed further. But prices continued to fall on year-on-year terms due to the high base of comparison during the same period last year."