BEIJING(Reuters) – Prices of new homes in China rose at a faster pace in November, a private survey showed on Sunday, as a string of policies may be lending support to the ailing property market.
The average price across 100 cities edged up 0.36%, compared with the previous month’s 0.29%, according to data released by property researcher China Index Academy.
On a year-on-year basis, the average price rose 2.40% versus 2.08% growth in October.
Official data for home prices will be released by China’s statistics bureau on Dec. 16.
A prolonged downturn in the property market, which accounted for roughly a quarter of economic activity at its 2021 peak, remains a key drag on the world’s second-largest economy.
In recent months, Chinese policymakers stepped up efforts to boost sentiment, enhance affordability and loosen home purchase restrictions, including tax breaks and smaller down payments.
Home prices are expected to fall at a slower pace this year and next, then stabilise in 2026, a Reuters poll showed, as the slew of support measures starts to bear fruit.
Since the release of the real estate policies at the end of September, the new and second-hand housing market has shown signs of marginal improvement but sustainability is highly uncertain, Ying Wang, managing director of Asia-Pacific corporate ratings at Fitch, said last week.
“Home prices are likely to continue to fall until corporate earnings in the real economy improve, thereby raising employment and the outlook for residents’ incomes,” Wang said, adding the company maintain its negative credit outlook on China’s real estate market through 2025.
(Reporting by Liangping Gao in Beijing and David Kirton in Shenzhen; Additional reporting by Gu Li; Editing by William Mallard)
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