MNI: China Sees Steady Gains in New Home Prices in November

     BEIJING (MNI) - New home prices in China rose in more cities in November

than the month before, reflecting a slight heating up of the property market.

     According to data released Monday by the National Bureau of Statistics, 50

cities out of the 70 cities the NBS monitors saw new home prices rise on a

month-on-month basis, up from the 44 that saw rises in October. Prices dipped in

10 cities, down from 14 in October, while the other 10 experienced no change.

     E-House Real Estate Research Institute told MNI that its Housing Price

Index rose 0.4% on a monthly basis, compared with a rise of 0.3% the month

before, and was the highest since July, when the index was 0.5%.

     Yan Yuejin, the director of the research institute, said the rise was due

to eased housing price controls, as well as a rebound in sales in some cities.

Some of the housing controls have included increased waiting times before

property units can be resold, restricting non-residents and people without jobs

in certain cities from purchasing homes, and increasing mortgage rates.

     On a year-on-year basis, new home prices gained in 59 cities in November,

one less than in October. They fell in 11 cities, one more than in October,

while two reported unchanged prices.

     On a monthly basis, Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang Province, posted the

highest price growth rate of 1.9%, followed by 1.5% in Zhanjiang, in Guangdong

Province, and 1.3% in both Xining, the capital of Qinghai Province, and Guilin,

in Guangxi Province.

     New home price declined the fastest on a m/m basis in Quanzhou at -0.4%,

followed by -0.3% both in Tianjin and Yangzhou, and -0.2% in Shenzhen, Nanjing,

Wuxi and Haikou.

     Y/y price growth was highest in Beihai, in Guangxi Province, with Xi'an of

Shaanxi Province (+12.3%), Shenyang of Liaoning Province (+11.8%), Chongqing

City (+10.8%) and Harbin of Heilongjiang Province (+10.5%) also topping the list

of big gainers.

     Y/y prices dropped fastest in cities that had some of the most rapid price

gains before local governments implemented stricter housing policies. Shenzhen

saw the biggest drop of 3.2%, followed by -1.8% in Fuzhou, -1.5% in Nanjing,

-1.3% in Wuxi, and -1.3% in Chengdu. 

     Tier-1 cities continue to suffer the most from tightening measures.

     Liu Jianwei, a senior NBS statistician, said Monday in a statement

accompanying the data release that new home prices dropped for the 14th

consecutive month year-on-year in Tier-1 cities in November, by 0.3%. They also

dropped in Tier-3 cities by 0.3%, the fourth straight month of drops. Tier-2

cities, however, saw price growth expand by 0.1 percentage point.

     On a monthly basis, only Tier-1 cities experienced new home price drop of

0.1%, compared with 0.5% and 0.4% m/m growth, respectively, in Tier-2 and Tier-3

cities.

     But, Yan said, "The hottest stage for the property market in Tier-3 cities

has already passed, and it has entered an adjustment stage." The new direction

may indicate the healthier development of the property sector in such cities, he

said. 

--MNI Beijing Bureau; +86 (10) 8532-5998; email: iris.ouyang@marketnews.com

--MNI Beijing Bureau; +86 (10) 8532-5998; email: vince.morkri@marketnews.com

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