MNI 5 THINGS: China Housing Prices Rise to 14-Month High

     BEIJING (MNI) - MNI highlights five key points from data on housing prices

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

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

units, increased 9.7% y/y in October, accelerating from an 8.9% gain in

September, marking the biggest rise in recent 17 months, according to MNI

calculations. On a monthly basis, average prices for 70 major cities rose 1.0%,

unchanged from September.  

     - Gains in housing prices in the top 15 cities expanded in October. The

average price of 15 cities rose 0.6% m/m, picking up from the 5-month-low of

0.4% recorded in September. On a year basis, price accelerated for the sixth

month by 4.2%, and was the most increase since August 2017.

     Table 1: China Residential Property Prices - Average Price Increases

Average Price Chg %              Oct  Sep  Aug  Jul  Jun  May   Apr   Mar

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15-Top cities               M/M  0.6  0.4  1.1  0.8  0.9  0.5   0.0   0.0

                            Y/Y  4.2  3.6  2.9  1.6  0.8  0.0  -0.5  -0.4

70-Large and medium Cities  M/M  1.0  1.0  1.5  1.2  1.1  0.8   0.6   0.4

                            Y/Y  9.7  8.9  8.0  6.6  5.8  5.4   5.3   5.5

     Source: MNI - MNI Calculation based on NBS data 

     - The numbers of cities which reporting housing price increases on a

monthly basis overwhelmed the records in September - 65 out of 70 cities (64 in

Sep) and 13 out of 15 top cities (11 in Sep). 

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

rising/falling

No. Cities Rising/Falling                 Oct  Sep  Aug  Jul  Jun  May  Apr  Mar

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15-Top cities M/M                   Rise   13   11   12   11   10    9    8    6

                                    Fall    2    2    1    2    2    5    7    7

                                Net Rise   11    9   11    9    8    4    1   -1

70-Large and medium Cities M/M      Rise   65   64   67   65   63   61   58   55

                                    Fall    4    3    1    3    4    7   10   10

                                Net Rise   61   61   66   62   59   54   48   45

15-Top cities Y/Y                   Rise   12   12   13   11    8    7    5    6

                                    Fall    3    2    2    4    7    8   10    9

                                Net Rise    9   10   11    7    1   -1   -5   -3

70-Large and medium Cities Y/Y      Rise   67   67   68   65   61   62   59   60

                                    Fall    3    2    2    4    9    8   10   10

                                Net Rise   64   65   66   61   52   54   49   50

     Source: MNI - MNI Calculation based on NBS data 

     - Pre-owned housing prices, which gauges a more active property market,

fell in all four tier-1 cities on a month basis, while declining in two on a

year basis.

     - New-home price in Guiyang, capital of southwestern province Guizhou, came

at first place on a monthly basis with 4.2% gain. On y/y basis, Haikou, capital

of tropical Hainan province, recorded the most gain of all cities for a

consecutive third month at 22.4%. The beach city benefited from a policy

announced in April calling for further opening up of the island in the South

China Sea to foreign investment . 

--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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