Housing sector shows signs of stabilisation

Fundamentally stable: Workers at a housing construction site in Beijing. New home prices in the 70 major cities tracked by the NBS rose 2.8% year-on-year in October, but dipped 0.3% from September. — Reuters

BEIJING: As “housing is for living in, not for speculation” remains the overriding mantra for the property sector, prices of both new and pre-owned homes in China’s major cities gained at a slower pace in October from a year earlier, and experts expect adjustments will lead to a better supply-demand balance in the housing sector.

The majority of the nation’s 70 large and medium-sized cities saw home prices edge down month-on-month in October, with new and pre-owned home prices growing at a slower pace from a year ago, said Sheng Guoqing, chief statistician with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).