Fall in home prices slows in major cities

New and pre-owned home prices in 70 major Chinese cities fell more slowly in January than in the previous month.

Market expectations turned more positive following a slew of measures to protect rational demand while sticking to the principle of “housing is for living in, not for speculation”, experts said.

The growth rate of home prices edged down slightly from a year earlier, said Sheng Guoqing, chief statistician with the National Bureau of Statistics’ urban department.

NBS data showed new home prices in the 70 major cities grew 1.7 percent year-on-year in January but did not change much compared to the levels in December.

The four top-tier cities’ new home prices rose 0.6 percent from the previous month, with Beijing taking the lead with an increase of 1 percent, followed by Shanghai (0.6 percent) and Guangzhou and Shenzhen (both 0.5 percent).