China home sales growth slows amid deleveraging drive
SHANGHAI: China home sales growth slowed in the first two months of this year, amid an almost two-year government campaign to cool the property market.
Sales by value, excluding state-subsidized affordable housing, rose 16% from a year earlier to 1.06 trillion yuan (US$168bil) in the January-February period, according to Bloomberg calculations based on official data released yesterday.
That’s down from a December.
The January and February data was combined to smooth the effects of the Lunar New Year holiday.
The slower growth comes as authorities sent a stronger signal at the National 21% pace in People’s Congress on efforts to curb property speculation and tame runaway prices.
Last week, an NPC spokesman said a property tax bill is being drafted, and the head of the nation’s banking regulator again called for steps to reduce household debt.
In other signs of a slowdown, developers bought less land than a year ago, the first decline in eight months.
New starts, a leading indicator of real estate investment, rose at the slowest pace in three months, gaining 2.9%, the data showed.
China’s deleveraging is making it harder for developers to access funds, said Guotai Junan International Co property analyst Van Liu. — Bloomberg