Home price growth rates in first-tier cities slow down in July

Growth of sales prices of new commercial residential buildings in China’s first- and second- tier cities showed a slowdown in July compared with rates seen in June, an official survey showed on Wednesday, as the country strives to regulate the property sector.

Of the 70 cities surveyed in July, the average home price growth rate for four first-tier cities increased by 0.2 percent, 0.4 percentage points slower than those seen in June, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed.

Among those four cities, new home prices in Shanghai saw a drop compared to June, while there was an increase of 0.2 percent, 0.6 percent and 0.5 percent in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, respectively.

Cong Liang, an official with the National Development and Reform Commission, said on Wednesday that China should continue to implement diversified real estate regulations to promote a balanced demand and supply mode, and resolutely prevent home prices from rising, in a bid to promote the long-term sound and stable development of the sector.

The NBS data also showed that home prices in 31 second-tier cities saw an increase of 1.1 percent, 0.1 percentage points slower than in June, while those in China’s thirdtier cities saw a rise of 1.5 percent, 0.8 percentage points faster than in June.

“Although there has been a slowdown, the increase in home prices in most cities amid strict government curbs shows that China still needs to stick to the principle of ‘houses are for living in, not for speculation’ in the next half of the year,” said Yan Yuejin, a research director at E-house China R&D Institute.