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New home purchases tumble in first four months
By Cherry Cao |
May 11, 2012, Friday
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Online Edition
Online Edition
NEW home purchases by both volume and value declined in China in the first four months of this year as the government stood unwavering in its efforts to curb housing speculation.
Sales of new homes, excluding government-funded affordable housing, shed 14.9 percent year-on-year to 190.12 million square meters across the country between January and April. By value, they fell 13.5 percent to 1.03 trillion yuan (US$162 billion) from the same period a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said today.
In the first quarter, however, they fell 15.5 percent by volume and 17.5 percent by value from the same period a year earlier.
As a result of sluggish sales, new home inventory continued to grow around the country, hitting 194.43 million square meters as of April, an increase of 930,000 square meters from the end of March, the bureau said.
"There will be quite a bit of uncertainty about new home transactions over the next couple of months with no signs of the government loosening rein-in policies," said Yang Hongxu, an analyst with E-House China Research and Development Institute. "However, we've noticed that the inventory/sales ratio in the country's 10 major cities has been declining since February amid a pickup in buying sentiment and that might be a possible signal for the beginning of destocking."
The inventory/sales ratio in 10 major Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, stood at 14.9 percent by the end of April, dropping for the second straight month, according to E-House data.
Investment in housing development, meanwhile, climbed 13.9 percent year-on-year to 1.08 trillion yuan in the first four months, continuing to weaken from growth of 19 percent in the January-March period, the bureau said.
House prices in China fell for the eighth straight month in April, according to a report released last week by the China Index Academy, which tracks 100 major cities around the country. Year-on-year, they dropped for the first time since June 2011, the latest evidence that a downward trend has been confirmed as government measures to cool the property market continue to work.
Sales of new homes, excluding government-funded affordable housing, shed 14.9 percent year-on-year to 190.12 million square meters across the country between January and April. By value, they fell 13.5 percent to 1.03 trillion yuan (US$162 billion) from the same period a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said today.
In the first quarter, however, they fell 15.5 percent by volume and 17.5 percent by value from the same period a year earlier.
As a result of sluggish sales, new home inventory continued to grow around the country, hitting 194.43 million square meters as of April, an increase of 930,000 square meters from the end of March, the bureau said.
"There will be quite a bit of uncertainty about new home transactions over the next couple of months with no signs of the government loosening rein-in policies," said Yang Hongxu, an analyst with E-House China Research and Development Institute. "However, we've noticed that the inventory/sales ratio in the country's 10 major cities has been declining since February amid a pickup in buying sentiment and that might be a possible signal for the beginning of destocking."
The inventory/sales ratio in 10 major Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, stood at 14.9 percent by the end of April, dropping for the second straight month, according to E-House data.
Investment in housing development, meanwhile, climbed 13.9 percent year-on-year to 1.08 trillion yuan in the first four months, continuing to weaken from growth of 19 percent in the January-March period, the bureau said.
House prices in China fell for the eighth straight month in April, according to a report released last week by the China Index Academy, which tracks 100 major cities around the country. Year-on-year, they dropped for the first time since June 2011, the latest evidence that a downward trend has been confirmed as government measures to cool the property market continue to work.
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