BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s new home prices fell for a fifth straight month in December as the COVID-19 outbreak hurt demand, but stricter pandemic Containment measures and lifting of hopes
New home prices fell 0.2 percent month-on-month in December, unchanged from November, according to Reuters calculations based on the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data released on Monday.
On a year-over-year basis, prices fell 1.5% for the eighth straight month, after falling 1.6% in November.
New home prices fell month-on-month in 55 cities in December, four more than in November, the National Bureau of Statistics said in an accompanying statement.
A slew of property support measures for homebuyers and developers in recent weeks, coupled with Beijing’s abrupt withdrawal of its zero-COVID policy last month, has cheered the market, but continued subdued demand remains a constraint With e recovery.
The reopening of the economy has resulted in a wave of COVID infections that will likely hamper economic activity and strain households for at least several months.
The real estate sector, once a key driver of the world’s second-largest economy, struggled badly last year as indebted developers failed to complete stalled projects and caused some buyers to resist mortgage lending.
Policymakers rolled out a slew of support measures to shore up the industry. The central bank said earlier this month that for cities where sales prices of new homes have fallen for three consecutive months, the lower limit on mortgage interest rates for first-time homebuyers could be lowered or canceled in stages.
In order to relax the borrowing restrictions on real estate developers, the regulator will improve the 17 pilot company’s ” The “three red lines” rule, state media Xinhua reported last week. The policy limits the amount of new borrowing that property developers can raise each year by placing a cap on the debt ratio.
Economists and analysts believe more support measures will be rolled out this year to boost housing demand as part of the COVID-induced 30 sharp downturn, Beijing’s overall goal is to boost the trillion-dollar economy.
