(Yicai Global) March 15 -- Residential apartment sales in 31 Chinese provincial-level areas sank 22.1 percent in January and February from the same period last year as demand remains strained despite many efforts by municipal governments to help home buyers, according to the latest figures.

CNY1.37 trillion (USD214.7 billion) worth of houses were sold in the first two months of the year, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics today. The floor area sold shrank 13.8 percent to 134.6 million square meters.

The total sales of residential and commercial housing dived 19.3 percent year-on-year to CNY1.55 trillion (USD243 billion) over the period, the NBS said. The floor area sold was down 9.6 percent to 157 million sqm.

These declines generally coincide with industry expectations, Yu Xiaoyu, research director at real estate consultancy firm EH Consulting, told Yicai Global. There is not a lot of willingness among consumers to buy apartments, which has resulted in sluggish transactions. Also, house buyers expected developers to lower their prices more as part of their sales promotions, she added.

The data suggests that people are postponing getting on the property ladder, said Yan Yuejin, research director at think tank E-House Real Estate Research Institute.

Yet Chinese cities have already brought out new policies 44 times so far this year to help property purchasers, according to Huatai Securities. Zhengzhou, capital of central Henan province, has become the first big city in the country to let families who are already fully paid up on their first house, to buy a second property at the same mortgage rate. Normally interest rates for a second property are set higher than the first one to curb the market.

Mortgage rates have been sliding since last October. Last month, the mortgage rates for first-time buyers in 100 cities across China dropped by 28 basis points and for those purchasing their second apartments by 25 bps. And banks are now turning around personal housing loan applications in 38 days, half the time it took in October last year, according to the Beike Research Institute.

Funding, though, remains tight for property developers. In January and February, the amount of funds available for developers slid 17.7 percent year-on-year to CNY2.5 trillion (USD391.9 billion). As a result, purchases of land rights dropped 42.3 percent over the period.

It will take some time for the easing policies to pass onto the real estate sector and reduce developers' burdens, Yan said.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Kim Taylor