China’s new home prices see sharpest decline in 7 years in October as property sector woes persist
- Prices of new homes fell 1.6 per cent year on year in October, the most since August 2015, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics
- The decline in prices was sharper in tier-2 and tier-3 cities, where they fell 0.3 per cent and 3.9 per cent, respectively
New home prices in China fell by the most in seven years in October, reflecting the sluggish demand and difficulties facing the property market.
Prices fell 1.6 per cent year on year last month, the steepest decline since August 2015, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday. Prices fell in 58 out of the 70 cities included in the index last month, compared with 54 in September, the NBS data showed.
The decline in new home prices was mainly led by tier-2 and tier-3 cities, where prices contracted by 0.3 per cent and 3.9 per cent compared with last year.
China’s property sector has been beset by woes since Beijing introduced the “three red lines” policy more than three years ago to reduce developers’ leverage. In recent months, a slowing economy and a mortgage-payment boycott in dozens of cities over uncompleted homes has compounded matters further.
Nevertheless, it will take time to see an improvement in the overall market, analysts said.