China's housing transactions up in October

New and resale home transactions in China registered both year-on-year and month-on-month growth in October, thanks to a series of measures to prop up the market, according to the latest figures released by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development on Friday.

Transactions of new homes in October went up 0.9 percent year on year, reversing a decline since June last year.

Resold home transactions rose for the seventh consecutive month by 8.9 percent year on year in October, according to the ministry.

On a monthly basis, transaction volumes of new homes increased 6.7 percent and that of resold homes moved up 4.5 percent in October.

Dubbed "Golden September and Silver October" by the housing market, the two months are considered a peak sales season in the second half of the year. Typically, September is the stronger of the two months as property developers strive to hit third-quarter targets.

The ministry said that it was the first time since 2007 that October transactions exceeded those in September.

"September is the last month of the third quarter, when real estate developers would work harder for better sales. And October, as the first month of the fourth quarter, usually sees a slowdown in the wake of high sales in September. Yet the 'Silver October' outperformed the 'Golden September' this year, which is very unusual. It's the first time we see this phenomenon since 2007," said Pu Zhan, deputy director of the policy research center under the ministry.

In October, the central government introduced a slew of incremental measures to stabilize the property sector, including enhanced support for dilapidated housing renovation projects.

"The October figures show that, under the combined impact of existing policies and new incremental policies, the real estate market nationwide is showing a positive momentum of reversing the downward trend and becoming stable again. We believe that as these policies continue to take effect, the real estate market is hopeful to sustain its upward trend," Pu said.

China's housing transactions up in October

Year-end box office revenues in China are strong, with sales and pre-sales for screenings between Nov 28 and Dec 31 exceeding 4 billion yuan (about 570 million U.S. dollars) by 22:45 on Thursday, according to online platform data.

The strong performance in the year-end season has been driven by high-quality moviemaking and a broad selection of movies, with more than 50 films scheduled for release during the period, covering suspense, drama, action and science fiction.

Among domestic productions, war drama "Gezhi Town", which tells the little-known story of civilians in a remote mountain town in central China defending their home against Japanese aggression back in the late 1930s, has raked in over 330 million yuan (about 46.87 million U.S. dollars) at the box office, including previews and pre-sales.

Several other domestic titles, including suspense films "The Fire Raven" and "Escape from the Outland" as well as the fantasy time-travel adaptation "Back to the Past," are set to be released on Dec 31, offering audiences many different options for New Year's Eve.

On the imported film front, "Avatar: Fire and Ash," the third installment of the franchise which features new adventures and upgraded 3D visuals, will hit Chinese theaters on Dec 19.

Another import, "Zootopia 2," has already grossed over 3.6 billion yuan (about 511 million U.S. dollars) in China, surpassing its North American earnings and making China the film's top-grossing market worldwide.

China's year-end box office revenues surpass 4 billion yuan