Housing price declines in Chinese cities narrow overall in May

Year-on-year declines in commercial residential property prices across China's first-, second- and third-tier cities narrowed overall in May while the month-on-month figures posed mixed trends, official data showed on Tuesday.

On a month-on-month basis, the market remained mixed with first-tier cities posting gains while second- and third-tier cities continued to see declines, according to a report released by the National Bureau of Statistics.

In May, prices of newly built commercial residential properties in first-tier cities rose 0.2 percent month on month, 0.1 percentage points higher than the previous month. Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen registered an increase of 0.2 percent, 0.2 percent and 0.4 percent respectively, while Beijing saw a dip of 0.2 percent. Second-tier cities saw a 0.1 percent decline, unchanged from April, while third-tier cities fell 0.4 percent, widening 0.1 percentage points. Of the 70 large and medium-sized cities surveyed, 16 recorded month-on-month price increases in new homes, two more than in April.

In the secondary market, prices of existing homes in first-tier cities edged up 0.4 percent month on month, unchanged from April, with Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen rising 0.1 percent, 0.6 percent, 0.1 percent and 0.6 percent respectively. Second-tier cities fell 0.2 percent, flat with April, and third-tier cities declined 0.4 percent, widening 0.1 percentage points. Ten cities saw month-on-month price increases for existing homes, two fewer than in April.

On a year-on-year basis, first-tier cities saw new home prices drop 1.7 percent in May, narrowing 0.4 percentage points from the previous month. Shanghai rose 3.2 percent, while Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen fell 2.1 percent, 3.3 percent and 4.5 percent respectively. Second-tier cities fell 3.2 percent, narrowing 0.1 percentage points from the previous month, and third-tier cities fell 4.2 percent, expanding 0.1 percentage points.

In the existing home market, first-tier cities saw prices decline 5.8 percent year on year in May, narrowing 1.0 percentage point from the previous month. Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen fell 6.5 percent, 4.3 percent, 7.0 percent and 5.5 percent respectively. Second-tier and third-tier cities fell 5.7 percent and 6.2 percent year on year, narrowing 0.2 and 0.1 percentage points respectively.

Housing price declines in Chinese cities narrow overall in May

China's foreign exchange market has remained generally stable in May despite continued volatility of the international financial markets, data released by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) showed on Monday.

The amount of foreign exchange settlement and sales by banks in May was 1.6676 trillion yuan (about 246.67 billion U.S. dollars) and 1.4229 trillion yuan (about 210.47 billion U.S. dollars), respectively, according to the statistics.

In May, the amount of cross-border receipts and payments by non-banking sectors was 5.2913 trillion yuan (about 782.67 billion U.S. dollars) and 4.8637 trillion yuan (about 719.42 billion U.S. dollars), respectively.

According to SAFE, in May, cross-border receipts and payments by enterprises, individuals and other non-banking sectors totaled 1.5 trillion U.S. dollars, up 22 percent year on year.

The country's foreign exchange market recorded transactions worth 3.4 trillion U.S. dollars in May, broadly unchanged from a year earlier.

In May, cross-border capital net inflows by enterprises, individuals and other non-banking sectors stood at 62.5 billion U.S. dollars, edging up 1 percent from the previous month. Banks posted a foreign exchange settlement surplus of 35.8 billion U.S. dollars, down 11 percent month on month.

The foreign exchange settlement rate for foreign exchange income and the foreign exchange purchase rate for foreign exchange expenditure by enterprises and other entities remained largely flat month on month, showing that various market entities have steady willingness to settle and purchase foreign exchange.

China's foreign exchange market remains stable in May