Stable Home Prices

China’s property market continued to show signs of cooling as home prices faltered or posted slower growth in major cities following tough purchase restrictions, official data showed on August 18.

On a yearly basis, of the 70 cities surveyed in July, the pace of new home price growth slowed in 15 major cities compared with the same month last year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.

On a month-on-month basis, new home prices fell or remained flat in 14 cities in July, up from 10 in June, according to the NBS data.

In Beijing, Nanjing and Shenzhen, new residential home prices fell in July from a month earlier, while Shanghai and Hangzhou saw prices unchanged.

Year on year, home prices in Beijing and Shanghai rose 8.9 percent and 7.3 percent in July, respectively.

“The data show a notable stabilization in prices due to the government’s differentiated control policies,” said NBS statistician Liu Jianwei.

Liu said current property market regulations focus on easing home