The home price decline in China's 70 large and medium-sized cities generally narrowed in February from the previous month, official data showed Monday.
Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that while housing prices continued to fall year on year, the decline narrowed both on a monthly and yearly basis, and the number of cities where new home prices either rose or remained stable increased from last month.
In first-tier cities, prices of newly built homes were generally unchanged month on month in February, compared with a 0.3-percent decline in January. Prices rose 0.2 percent in both Beijing and Shanghai, remained flat in Guangzhou, and fell 0.3 percent in Shenzhen.
In second- and third-tier cities, new home prices dropped 0.2 percent and 0.3 percent respectively, narrowed by 0.1 percent from the previous month.
Across the 70 cities surveyed, 10 recorded month-on-month increases in new home prices while seven saw no changes, bringing the total number of stable or rising cities to 17, nine more than in January.
For existing homes, the month-on-month price drop in first-tier cities reached 0.1 percent, narrowing by 0.4 percent compared to January's data. The average prices in Beijing and Shanghai rose by 0.3 and 0.2 percent, respectively, while prices fell by 0.5 and 0.4 percent in Guangzhou and Shenzhen. For second- and third-tier cities, the average second-hand housing prices were down by 0.4 and 0.5 percent, respectively, marking a 0.1 percentage points narrowing compared to last month.
Resale housing prices also showed signs of stabilization. In first-tier cities, they fell 0.1 percent month on month, 0.4 percentage points lower than in the previous month. Prices rose in Beijing and Shanghai, while declines were recorded in Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
On a yearly basis, however, housing prices remained lower. New home prices in first-tier cities fell 2.2 percent from a year earlier, 0.1 percentage points higher from January. Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen saw year-on-year drops of 2.3 percent, 5.1 percent, and 5.5 percent, respectively, with prices in Shanghai notably up 4.2 percent.
In second- and third-tier cities, new home prices dropped 3.1 percent and 4.0 percent on a yearly basis, rose by 0.2 and 0.1 percentage points from last month.
Resale prices in first-, second-, and third-tier cities dropped 7.6 percent, 6.2 percent, and 6.3 percent year on year, respectively.
China's home price decline eases in February
