Home prices in July fall in majority of Chinese cities

[SHANGHAI] China's new-home prices fell in July in almost all cities that the government tracks as tight mortgage lending deterred buyers even as local governments eased property curbs.

Prices fell in 64 of the 70 cities last month from June, the National Bureau of Statistics said yesterday, the most since January 2011 when the government changed the way it compiles the data.

Beijing prices fell one per cent from June, posting the first monthly decline since April 2012.