China’s new home prices registered a second straight month of weak growth in September as government measures to cool a long property boom took hold.
The home-price growth of the world’s second largest economic country of the world was steadies in September, with prices in the biggest markets slipping and gains in smaller cities slowing.
China’s housing market has been on a near two-year tear, giving the economy a major boost but stirring fears of a property bubble even as authorities work to contain risks from a rapid build-up in debt.
Average new home prices rose 0.2 per cent month-on-month in September, the same rate as in August when prices rose at the slowest rate in seven months, according to Reuters calculations.
New home prices rose 6.3 per cent year-on-year in September, decelerating from August’s 8.3 per cent increase, partly thanks to last September’s high base.
Prices for new private homes in China’s top-tier cities fell 0.2 per cent in September versus a 0.3 per cent decline in August, the NBS said in a note accompanying the data.
In southern boomtown Shenzhen, which borders Hong Kong, prices stabilised after a drop of 0.4 per cent in August.
Property sales dropped for the first time in more than 2 1/2 years in September and housing starts slowed sharply.
The majority of the 70 cities surveyed by the NBS still reported a monthly price increase for new homes, although the total dropped to 44 in September from 46 in August.
China’s housing minister said on Sunday that property sales will slow in the fourth quarter but prices will remain stable.