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Prices, volume of home sales remain flat
By Cherry Cao |
May 12, 2012, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
NEW home purchases by both volume and value remained flat in China in the first four months of this year as the central 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 yesterday.
In the first quarter, however, they fell 15.5 percent by volume and 17.5 percent by value from same period a year earlier.
As a result of sluggish sales, new home inventory continued to grow, hitting 194.43 million square meters in April, up 930,000 square meters from the end of March, the bureau said.
"There will be quite big uncertainties about new home transactions over the next couple of months with no signs of loosening in government 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, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and six second-tier cities, stood at 14.9 percent by the end of April, heading south 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.
Home prices fell for the eighth straight month in April, according to a report released last week by the China Index Academy, which tracks 100 cities around the country. Year-on-year, they also dropped for the first time since June 2011, more 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 yesterday.
In the first quarter, however, they fell 15.5 percent by volume and 17.5 percent by value from same period a year earlier.
As a result of sluggish sales, new home inventory continued to grow, hitting 194.43 million square meters in April, up 930,000 square meters from the end of March, the bureau said.
"There will be quite big uncertainties about new home transactions over the next couple of months with no signs of loosening in government 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, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and six second-tier cities, stood at 14.9 percent by the end of April, heading south 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.
Home prices fell for the eighth straight month in April, according to a report released last week by the China Index Academy, which tracks 100 cities around the country. Year-on-year, they also dropped for the first time since June 2011, more evidence that a downward trend has been confirmed as government measures to cool the property market continue to work.
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