©Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Residential and office buildings in Beijing, China, January 10, 2017. REUTERS/Jason Lee/File Photo
BEIJING (Reuters) – Prices of new homes in China rose at a slightly slower pace in February than a month earlier, a private survey found on Friday, reflecting continued difficulty in a real estate sector where Government support has yet to reinvigorate sales.
The average price of new homes in 100 cities rose 0.14%, compared with a month-on-month increase of 0.15% in January, data from property researcher China Index Academy showed.
The number of cities reporting an increase in home prices was nine fewer than the previous month.
The southern megacity of Shenzhen, which recorded price increases in January after benefiting from the easing of market policies, recorded the steepest price decline in February, at 0.28%.
Total sales by value among 100 real estate companies slumped 51.6% year-on-year in the first two months of the year, according to a separate survey by China Index Academy.
The top three real estate developers in terms of sales volume were Poly Developments and Holdings Group, China Vanke and Greentown China Holdings.
China has stepped up measures to halt the downturn in a real estate sector that has swung from one extreme to the other since 2021, after a regulatory crackdown on high leverage.
In January authorities launched a “white list” mechanism, asking state banks to increase lending to residential projects.
As of Feb. 28, 276 cities in 31 provinces have established such mechanisms, with about 6,000 real estate projects proposed for financing and commercial banks approving loans of more than 200 billion yuan ($27.79 billion) for eligible projects, they said financial and real estate regulators. on Thursday.
The government will hold its annual meetings in “two sessions” next week, with market participants looking to the parliamentary meeting starting on March 5 for policy direction.
After two sessions, authorities may step up support for the real estate sector, easing restrictions on home purchases, lowering down payments and interest rates on mortgages and increasing the implementation of financial support policies for real estate businesses, the government said. China Index Academy.
($1 = 7.1967 renminbi)