Hong Kong: China’s home-price declines eased for a third month in November, suggesting values are beginning to stabilise as policymakers step up efforts to end the property slump.
New-home prices in 70 cities, excluding state-subsidised housing, dropped 0.2% from October, the smallest decrease in 17 months, National Bureau of Statistics figures showed yesterday.
Values of used homes fell 0.35%, the least since May 2023.
China’s housing downturn has weighed on Asia’s largest economy for more than three years.
The figures offer a glimmer of hope for the market after recent stimulus measures failed to sustain a rebound in sales – a prerequisite for putting a floor under prices, according to Fitch Ratings.
“The recovery is still fragile and not broad-based,” said Hong Kong CGS International Securities China property research head Raymond Cheng.
“Property markets in small cities are still very challenging with high inventory levels.”
From a year earlier, new-home prices fell 6.1% in November, easing from October’s 6.2% drop.
Existing-home prices slid 8.5%, less than 8.9% a month earlier.
Top officials led by President Xi Jinping last week vowed to stabilize the property market next year in an announcement following the two-day Central Economic Work Conference.
A housing ministry official reiterated the pledge last Saturday.
But they provided no incremental details, unlike in previous policy communications, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc analysts including Lisheng Wang.
Sales of new homes by the 100 biggest real estate companies dropped 6.9% in November from a year ago, following a brief gain in October, private data showed earlier. — Bloomberg
