MNI 5 THINGS: China Dec Home Prices Still Hot But Easing Signs

     BEIJING (MNI) - MNI highlights five points from housing price data released

by China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Wednesday:

     - The average price of new homes in 70 major cities, excluding subsidized

units, increased 10.6% y/y in December, the fastest gain in 19 months. It

compared with a 10.3% gain in November,according to MNI calculations. On m/m

monthly basis, the average price gained 0.8%, cooling down from October's 1.0%

growth.  

     - Gains in housing prices in the top 15 cities followed the trend --

accelerating on year but decelerating on month. The gain of 5.7% y/y marked the

sharpest since August 2017 while the growth of 0.7% m/m eased from 0.8% in

November.

     Table 1: China Residential Property Prices - Average Price Increases

Average Price Chg %               Dec   Nov  Oct  Sep  Aug  Jul  Jun  May

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15-Top cities               M/M   0.7   0.8  0.6  0.4  1.1  0.8  0.9  0.5

                            Y/Y   5.7   5.1  4.2  3.6  2.9  1.6  0.8  0.0

70-Large and medium Cities  M/M   0.8   1.0  1.0  1.0  1.5  1.2  1.1  0.8

                            Y/Y  10.6  10.3  9.7  8.9  8.0  6.6  5.8  5.4

     Source: MNI - MNI Calculation based on NBS data 

     - The numbers of cities reporting housing price increases on a yearly basis

picked up from November -- 69 out of 70 cities (68 in Nov) and 14 out of 15 top

cities (13 in Nov). 

     Table 2: China Residential Property Prices - No. of cities where prices are

rising/falling

No. Cities Rising/Falling                 Dec  Nov  Oct  Sep  Aug  Jul  Jun  May

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

15-Top cities M/M                   Rise   12   11   13   11   12   11   10    9

                                    Fall    3    3    2    2    1    2    2    5

                                Net Rise    9    8   11    9   11    9    8    4

70-Large and medium Cities M/M      Rise   59   63   65   64   67   65   63   61

                                    Fall    8    5    4    3    1    3    4    7

                                Net Rise   51   58   61   61   66   62   59   54

15-Top cities Y/Y                   Rise   14   13   12   12   13   11    8    7

                                    Fall    1    2    3    2    2    4    7    8

                                Net Rise   13   11    9   10   11    7    1   -1

70-Large and medium Cities Y/Y      Rise   69   68   67   67   68   65   61   62

                                    Fall    1    2    3    2    2    4    9    8

                                Net Rise   68   66   64   65   66   61   52   54

     Source: MNI - MNI Calculation based on NBS data 

     - Pre-owned home prices, which better gauges property market activity, fell

in all four tier-1 cities month-on-month, while rising in most tier-2 (20 out of

31)and tier-3 cities (27 out of 35).

     - New-home price in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province and one of

the four tier-1 cities, registered the sharpest monthly gain at 3.0%. On y/y

basis, Xi'an, the capital of northwest Shaanxi province, recorded the best gain

at 22.4%, revealing a strong demands from tier-2 cities when 'hot' cities are

cooling down.

--MNI Beijing Bureau; tel: +86 (10) 8532-5998; email: flora.guo@marketnews.com

--MNI London Bureau; tel: +44 203-586-2225; email: les.commons@marketnews.com

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