China's House Price Decline Slows for First Time in 2024(Yicai) Dec. 16 -- The decline in house prices across China's major cities slowed last month for the first time this year, noted Wang Zhonghua, a chief statistician at the National Bureau of Statistics, in a sign that the property market may be stabilizing.
New home prices rose in 17 of the 70 major cities surveyed in November, up from just seven the previous month, while pre-owned house prices rose in 10 cities, an increase from eight, according to data released by the NBS today.
The data may point to a steadying market after China’s central bank brought out measures to bolster it in late September, including lowering rates on existing mortgages to align with those for new loans and reducing the minimum down payment required for second homes.
At last week’s economic agenda-setting government work conference, China’s top leadership reiterated the government’s commitment to reverse the property market downturn.
The NBS data also showed that in the four first-tier cities new-build prices fell 4.3 percent last month from a year earlier, an improvement on October's 4.6 percent drop. The decrease was 5.3 percent in Beijing, 9.9 percent in Guangzhou, and 7.1 percent in Shenzhen. Shanghai stood out with a 5 percent increase.
Second-hand house prices in the four cities slid 8 percent, a rebound from October's 9.6 percent slump. Guangzhou fell by the most, tumbling 11.9 percent, followed by Shenzhen at 9 percent, Beijing at 6.2 percent, and Shanghai at 4.9 perce.
The dataset of 31 second-tier cities showed a 5.8 percent decline in new home prices, better than October's 6 percent drop. These cities also saw an 8.4 percent slide in second-hand property prices, compared with an 8.8 percent decline the month before.
The recovery was more modest in the remaining 35 third-tier cities, which logged a 6.5 percent year-on-year decrease in new home prices, slightly better than the prior 6.6 percent decline. Second-hand homes in these cities became 8.8 percent more affordable, compared with the 9 percent slump in the previous month.
Editor: Emmi Laine
