China's major cities see housing market rebound in March: data

China's major cities experienced a significant rebound in housing transactions and prices in March, driven by improved market confidence, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday.

Among 70 large and medium-sized cities, the number of cities with month-on-month increases in commodity housing prices rose. In first-tier cities, these prices also showed month-on-month gains in March, according to the bureau.

On month-on-month basis, the sales prices of commodity housing units in first-tier cities rose in March, while the overall decline in prices for newly-built and pre-owned commodity housing units in second- and third-tier cities narrowed.

Specifically, the sales prices of newly-built commodity housing units in first-tier cities increased by 0.1 percent month on month, while prices for pre-owned units rose by 0.2 percent.

In second-tier cities, the sales prices of newly-built commodity housing units remained unchanged from the previous month, and the decline in pre-owned housing prices narrowed by 0.2 percentage points.

In third-tier cities, the declines in both newly-built and pre-owned commodity housing unit prices narrowed by 0.1 percentage points.

Meanwhile, the year-on-year decline in the sales prices of commodity housing units across the country continued to narrow in March.

Specifically, in first-tier cities, the year-on-year decline in the sales prices of newly built and pre-owned commodity housing units narrowed by 0.2 and 0.8 percentage points, respectively, compared with the previous month.

In second-tier cities, the year-on-year decline in the sales prices of newly built and pre-owned units narrowed by 0.3 and 0.4 percentage points, respectively, compared with the previous month.

In third-tier cities, the year-on-year decline in the sales prices of both newly built and pre-owned commodity housing units narrowed by 0.2 percentage points, compared with the previous month.

China's major cities see housing market rebound in March: data

China's major cities see housing market rebound in March: data

China's major cities see housing market rebound in March: data

China's major cities see housing market rebound in March: data

Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said on Monday that the situation in Iran is "under total control" following violence linked to protests that spiked over the weekend.

Addressing foreign diplomats in Tehran, the foreign minister noted that armed terrorist groups had infiltrated the protests, attempting to divert them from their legitimate course. He claimed that evidence has been gathered showing Iranian security forces being shot at, with the aim of causing further casualties. He accused the United States and Israel of exploiting the unrest to interfere in Iran's internal affairs.

Araghchi further stated that the government is closely monitoring developments on the streets, emphasizing that "the situation has come under control." He also affirmed that internet services, curtailed during the unrest, would be restored after coordination with security agencies.

The government has engaged in dialogue with merchants and protest representatives and initiated reforms to address grievances related to price hikes and currency depreciation. Iran has taken a series of actions and measures to respond to the demands of peaceful demonstrators, the foreign minister said.

Earlier on Sunday, Araghchi said that clear evidence links recent riots and vandalism of public facilities in Iran to the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad. This came after former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo mentioned Mossad agents operating on Iran's streets in a social media post. The Iranian foreign minister asserted that police are being attacked by "terrorists" acting under the direction of Israeli operatives, whom Pompeo publicly acknowledged.

The protests initially erupted over a sharp depreciation of the rial and sweeping subsidy reforms. Iranian authorities have blamed the unrest on foreign-linked agents and U.S. sanctions.

Iranian foreign minister says situation "fully under control," accuses Israeli intelligence of stoking unrest