China’s December new home prices rise a touch faster: survey

PRICES of new homes in China rose at a slightly faster pace in December, a private survey showed on Wednesday (Jan 1), as the crisis-hit property sector struggles to find a bottom on the heels of a slew of supportive government policies.

The average price of new homes across 100 cities edged up 0.37 per cent from a month earlier, compared with the 0.36 per cent rise in November, according to data from property researcher China Index Academy.

On a year-on-year basis, the average price rose 2.7 per cent in December, versus 2.4 per cent growth in the previous month.

Official data for home prices will be released by China’s statistics bureau on Jan 17.

China’s policymakers in recent months doubled down on their efforts to revive the sector, which crashed in 2021 after a government-led campaign to rein in indebted developers left them severely cash-strapped.

Since September, measures aimed at encouraging homebuying have included cutting mortgage rates and minimum down-payments, as well as tax incentives. REUTERS