China new home prices rebound in December
New home prices in December rose in 57 of the 70 cities tracked by the government, up from 50 in November
China’s average new home prices rose in December, mirroring a rally in real estate stocks this year that has been driven by brighter sales prospects this year.
New home prices last month rose in 57 of the 70 cities tracked by the government, up from 50 in November, while prices fell in seven cities, down from 10 in November, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics on Thursday.
The average cost of new property in the 70 cities increased by 0.4 per cent year in December from the previous month, according to Reuters.
The month on month price increases varied in the top cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. It rose 0.3 per cent in Shanghai, fell 0.2 per cent in Shenzhen while remaining flat in Beijing.
Prices in smaller cities snapped their deceleration of the past months. Kunming in the southwest posted the strongest month on month growth of 2.6 per cent, while Haikou in the south saw a rise of 2.2 per cent.
The Hang Seng Mainland Properties Index gained 0.7 per cent on Thursday morning, taking the rally so far this year to 13.5 per cent, which has been driven mainly by relaxed policies in select cities, and strong results outlook for 2017 and sales in 2018.
About 10 cities, mostly in western and central China, including Lanzhou, Hefei and Chengdu, have tentatively relaxed housing registration policies, which observers believe indicates that the overall tightening that has been in place since last year is changing direction, and was driving the rally in mainland property stocks.
China’s housing ministry was quick to quash speculation. It said in a statement on Tuesday that the tightening policy was “firmly in place” to ensure the “continuity of the housing policy”.
