China’s home prices fall at a slower pace as Beijing steps in to resuscitate property sector
- New home prices in China’s top cities fell 0.37 per cent in January, compared with 0.45 per cent a month earlier, according to official data
- Cut to the loan prime rate could have limited impact on the sector’s fortunes, but the move indicates further loosening could be on the way, investment banks say
Home prices in mainland China fell in January, but the pace of decline slowed for both new and lived-in units amid persistent weakness in consumer sentiment, according to official data.
Prices of newly built homes in 70 large and medium cities fell 0.37 per cent last month, slowing from 0.45 per cent in December, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Friday.
Second-hand home prices dropped 0.68 per cent, compared with a 0.79 per cent slide a month earlier.
Fewer cities saw price erosion last month. New home prices declined in 56 cities, six fewer than December, while existing home prices fell in 68 cities versus all 70 the previous month, the data showed.
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The weak home prices, along with the continued contraction in new home sales, underscore a poor start for China’s property sector this year, Nomura analysts said in a note on Friday. The cut to the five-year loan prime rate (LPR) could have a limited impact, the Japanese investment bank added.
Contracted sales at the top 100 mainland Chinese developers declined by 36 per cent year on year in January, compared with 34.6 per cent in December, according to data cited by Moody’s.