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China’s home prices in the 100 major cities declined further in July, with second-hand home prices falling month-on-month for the 15th consecutive month, according to China Index Academy, a major real estate research firm in the country.
The average new home price in the 100 major cities stood at 16,177 yuan per square meter in July, edging down by 0.01% from the previous month, in line with the drop in June, and falling by 0.17% from a year earlier.
The average second-hand home price in the cities stood at 15,685 yuan per square meter in July, down 0.39% from the month before, sliding for the 15th straight month and expanding from the 0.25% decline in June. The price declined by 2.04% in July from a year earlier.
Among the 100 cities, 45 cities saw new home price drop in July from the previous month and 96 cities saw second-hand home prices decline.
In breakdown, new home prices in tier-one cities rose by 0.02% in July from the previous month, while new home prices in tier-two and tier-three/four cities fell by 0.02% and 0.04%.
Second-hand home prices in tier-one cities fell by 0.24% in July from the previous month, expanding from the 0.13% drop in June, while second-hand home prices in tier-two and tier-three/four cities fell by 0.43% and 0.39%, respectively, expanding by 0.16 percentage point and 0.09 percentage point from June.
Local governments are expected to accelerate introduction of supportive policy for the real estate sector after the Politburo vowed to optimize the real estate policy and the housing ministry also sent positive policy tone, said the academy.
However, considering that tier-two and tier-three/four cities have largely lifted property curbs, futures policy optimization will be mostly in tier-one cities and core tier-two cities, with measures including lowering downpayment ratio, reducing mortgage loans, cutting transaction tax and fees, relax property purchase restrictions, it said.