China’s nationwide new home sales storm ahead in April, extending rebound for second month
- Data tracking the nation’s 100 biggest developers showed contracted sales of 779.8 billion yuan ($115.8 billion) for April, in line with pickup in March
Mainland developers reported April sales topping US$115 billion, surging nearly 17 per cent on year and extending upbeat momentum from March, even as new curbs to cooling the housing market were imposed in some cities.
Combined contracted sales by the largest 100 Chinese developers totalled 779.8 billion yuan ($115.8 billion) for the month, 5.8 per cent lower than March, according to property consultancy China Real Estate Information Corp (CRIC).
The April sales figure represents a gain of 34.6 per cent from January and is 74.7 per cent higher than February, although analysts caution the data was open to distortion by the week-long Lunar New Year holiday.
“On a year on year basis, April’s sales grew 16.6 per cent. Pent-up demand in first and some second-tier cities and a policy easing outlook pushed up the recovery of the overall market,” said the CRIC report.
The sales data from the nation’s leading property developers represents two-thirds of overall sales and is viewed as an important barometer of the heath of the mainland’s housing market. Official data for April won’t be released until the second half of May.
Thanks to buoyant sales in March and April, overall aggregate sales for the first four months are up 3.6 per cent from the same period a year earlier.