China Sales of Existing Homes May Drop after Govt Reference Prices: Journal

Sales of existing properties in China may fall in the second half after an increasing number of city authorities have published "reference prices", the China Securities Journal reported. The southeast city Wuxi became one of the first six cities launching the policy, which allows regulators to discourage irregular pricing, improve supervision, therefore stabilizing the property markets, the newspaper said. The price guide is based on the average of the trading prices and renewed once a year to make sure it is within a reasonable range, it said. Sales of preowned homes in Shenzhen in June plunged 80% from a year ago after the city enacted the policy early this year, the newspaper said.