Amidst regulator’s efforts to rein in soaring home prices, China’s home sales in July 2017 grew at the slowest pace in more than two years, according to Bloomberg.
Based on data by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) of China, the value of new homes sold rose 4.3 per cent to 779 billion yuan from a year earlier — the smallest increase since March 2015.
The slower growth in July can be attributed to a growth streak in June, due to a sales boom in third and fourth-tier cities and intense competition among developers to promote new projects and lock in sales before the mid-year point, as noted by The South China Morning Post. Come July, the urgency was less, hence a drop in new home supply.
The deceleration is also in line with a slowdown in property investment growth, from 7.9 per cent in June to 4.8 last month, according to NBS data.
The headline numbers show the property market “has cooled”, speculation has been curbed and rel estate investment will slow “at a gradual pace”, said statistics bureau’s spokesman Mao Shengyong. Measures aimed at defusing the real estate bubble — such as bigger cities placing buying limits, home loan regulations and loan rate hikes — are expected to continue have an impact on home sales and prices. — Construction+ Online
