MNI 5 THINGS: China Jan Home Prices Rise 10.8% Y/Y, 0.6% M/M

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

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

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

units, increased 10.8% y/y in January, the fastest gain in 20 months. It

compared with a 10.6% gain in December, according to MNI calculations. On m/m

basis, the average price gained 0.6%, cooling from December's 0.8% gain.  

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

-- accelerating on year but decelerating on month. The gain of 6.1% y/y marked

the sharpest since August 2017 while growth eased to 0.4% m/m from 0.7% in

December.

     Table 1: China Residential Property Prices - Average Price Increases

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

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

                            Y/Y   6.1   5.7   5.1  4.2  3.6  2.9  1.6  0.8

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

                            Y/Y  10.8  10.6  10.3  9.7  8.9  8.0  6.6  5.8

     Source: MNI - MNI Calculation based on NBS data 

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

fell in January -- 68 out of 70 cities (69 in Dec) and 13 out of 15 top cities

(14 in Dec). 

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

rising/falling

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

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

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

                                    Fall    3    3    3    2    2    1    2    2

                                Net Rise    9    9    8   11    9   11    9    8

70-Large and medium Cities M/M      Rise   58   59   63   65   64   67   65   63

                                    Fall    8    8    5    4    3    1    3    4

                                Net Rise   50   51   58   61   61   66   62   59

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

                                    Fall    2    1    2    3    2    2    4    7

                                Net Rise   11   13   11    9   10   11    7    1

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

                                    Fall    2    1    2    3    2    2    4    9

                                Net Rise   66   68   66   64   65   66   61   52

     Source: MNI - MNI Calculation based on NBS data 

     --Pre-owned home prices, a better gauge of property market activity, fell

or was unchanged in all four tier-1 cities month-on-month, while rising in most

tier-2 (21 out of 31)and tier-3 cities (20 out of 35).

     --New-home price in Dali, the well-known tourism spot in southwest Yunnan

province, registered the sharpest monthly gain at 2.0%. On a y/y basis, Xi'an,

the capital of northwest Shaanxi province, recorded the best gain for a second

month at 23.5%, revealing strong demand form 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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