 "Home prices in China decline for 4th straight month")
Prices for new homes in China continued to fall in December, data showed Sunday, with persistent oversupply expected to keep pressure on real estate prices and investment, even though year-end sales surged.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed prices for new homes had fallen in 68 of the 70 major cities the bureau monitors, a figure unchanged from November.
"On average, prices of new homes and existing homes in December in the 70 cities fell 0.2 per cent and 0.3 per cent respectively from a month ago," said Liu Jianwei, senior statistician at the bureau, according to Xinhua, China's official news agency.
Property sales in December in 70 major cities reached the highest level seen in 2014, up nearly 9 per cent from November, according to data from the bureau.
China's top listed residential developer, China Vanke, reported a 129 per cent surge in sales in the final month of 2014, compared with a year earlier, while sales during the same period for the midsize developer Country Garden leaped 167 per cent.
The gloomy house price news foreshadowed economic growth figures for 2014 that are due out on Tuesday, with expansion expected to have slowed to 7.2 per cent, the weakest showing since the depths of the global financial crisis.
With real estate investment accounting for about 15 per cent of China's gross domestic product growth, a 9 per cent decline in new space under construction in the first 11 months of 2014 could take a heavy toll.
"We expect China's GDP growth to slow further in 2015 to 6.8 per cent, as the ongoing property downturn leads to further weakness in construction and industrial production, and related investment," Tao Wang, China economist at UBS, wrote in a note.
China's real estate market has been plagued by falling prices and high inventories in recent months, crimping demand in 40 economic sectors as varied as steel, cement and furniture.
The property researcher CRIC said housing supply remained excessive despite the increase in sales, with only two major cities out of 23 it studied reporting a decline in inventory at the end of December.
"In most Tier 2 or Tier 3 cities, inventory destocking remains the main task for local property markets in 2015," said Liu Yuan, the head of research at the Shanghai property consultant Centaline.
Yet despite falling prices and a stock overhang, several Chinese developers have said they will introduce more housing projects in 2015 as they strive to meet sales targets and increase market share.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed prices for new homes had fallen in 68 of the 70 major cities the bureau monitors, a figure unchanged from November.
"On average, prices of new homes and existing homes in December in the 70 cities fell 0.2 per cent and 0.3 per cent respectively from a month ago," said Liu Jianwei, senior statistician at the bureau, according to Xinhua, China's official news agency.
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Sales had surged as recent policy changes, including cheaper loans and the official interest rate cut in November, increased interest in purchasing homes and developers pushed to make sales by the end of the year, the statistician said.
Property sales in December in 70 major cities reached the highest level seen in 2014, up nearly 9 per cent from November, according to data from the bureau.
China's top listed residential developer, China Vanke, reported a 129 per cent surge in sales in the final month of 2014, compared with a year earlier, while sales during the same period for the midsize developer Country Garden leaped 167 per cent.
The gloomy house price news foreshadowed economic growth figures for 2014 that are due out on Tuesday, with expansion expected to have slowed to 7.2 per cent, the weakest showing since the depths of the global financial crisis.
With real estate investment accounting for about 15 per cent of China's gross domestic product growth, a 9 per cent decline in new space under construction in the first 11 months of 2014 could take a heavy toll.
"We expect China's GDP growth to slow further in 2015 to 6.8 per cent, as the ongoing property downturn leads to further weakness in construction and industrial production, and related investment," Tao Wang, China economist at UBS, wrote in a note.
China's real estate market has been plagued by falling prices and high inventories in recent months, crimping demand in 40 economic sectors as varied as steel, cement and furniture.
The property researcher CRIC said housing supply remained excessive despite the increase in sales, with only two major cities out of 23 it studied reporting a decline in inventory at the end of December.
"In most Tier 2 or Tier 3 cities, inventory destocking remains the main task for local property markets in 2015," said Liu Yuan, the head of research at the Shanghai property consultant Centaline.
Yet despite falling prices and a stock overhang, several Chinese developers have said they will introduce more housing projects in 2015 as they strive to meet sales targets and increase market share.