China’s home prices rise for first time in 18 months as supportive measures restore some confidence

Name: China housing: Can the world’s biggest housing market boom again?
Uploaded: 2023-03-16T06:00:13.000Z
Duration: 11 min 5 s
Description: China housing: Can the world’s biggest housing market boom again?

The average price of a new home in 70 medium and large cities edged up 0.3 per cent in February, official data shows

‘The price data indicates that the overall market is starting to rebound,’ says director of the E-house China Research and Development Institute

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The average price of a new home in 70 medium and large cities in mainland China edged up 0.3 per cent in February. Photo: Reuters

Yulu Ao

Published: 2:00pm, 16 Mar 2023Updated: 2:24pm, 16 Mar 2023

China’s home prices rose for the first time in a year and a half, as favourable government policy restored some confidence to the beleaguered market.

The average price of a new home in 70 medium and large cities in mainland China edged up 0.3 per cent in February, after staying essentially flat in January, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Thursday.

Prices in 55 of the 70 cities tracked saw a monthly increase in February – 19 more than in the previous month – while lived-in home prices rose in 40 cities versus 13 in January, the latest data showed.

“[Fifty-five] is the largest number since July 2021, which suggests a good home sales performance in February and the start of the recovery in the sector,” said Yan Yuejin, director of the Shanghai-based E-house China Research and Development Institute.

On a year-on-year basis, 14 cities recorded an increase in new home prices while seven cities saw houses in the secondary market become more expensive in February.

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China housing: Can the world’s biggest housing market boom again?

“We can see the property market is definitely picking up since the start of the new year, with first-tier cities rebounding faster than lower-tier cities and the lived-in home market showing more robust recovery than the new-home market,” said Xu Xiaole, chief analyst with the Beike Research Institute.