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China's housing market further eases in September
Updated 14:59, 20-Oct-2021
CGTN
Buildings under construction in Fuzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province, October 18, 2021. /CFP

Buildings under construction in Fuzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province, October 18, 2021. /CFP

China continued to see its housing market ease in September under strengthened market regulations, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said (link in Chinese) on Wednesday. 

New home prices in four first-tier cities stood unchanged in September from a month earlier, compared with month-on-month growth of 0.3 percent in August, according to the NBS data. 

Guangzhou's new home prices declined 0.1 percent in September compared with a month ago, while new home prices in both Shanghai and Shenzhen increased 0.2 percent month on month. Beijing saw new home prices unchanged in September, versus 0.2-percent rise in August. 

Prices of second-hand homes in the four cities edged down 0.4 percent last month from August, reversing a mild month-on-month increase during that month.

A total of 31 second-tier cities saw no month-on-month change in new home prices, while 35 third-tier cities saw a month-on-month decline of 0.2 percent in new home prices. 

The latest data came as the country emphasizes its strict housing sector regulations, which follow the principle that "housing is for living, not for speculation." 

In September, some cities intensified their regulations on property speculation. For example, Xiamen in southeast China's Fujian Province further tightened property curbs on top of existing measures by prohibiting first-time homebuyers from reselling their properties for five years. 

"We expect Beijing to stick to its tightening measures on the property sector and industries with high carbon emissions and energy intensity," said Lu Ting, chief China economist with Nomura. "Beijing may step up monetary and fiscal support, but a sharp growth slowdown appears inevitable." 

Lu added, "We believe prices of both new and existing homes have actually declined in a majority of cities."

Wednesday's data showed that China's over-five-year loan prime rate, a market-based benchmark lending rate on which many lenders base their mortgage rates, remained unchanged from the previous reading of 4.65 percent, according to the National Interbank Funding Center.

(With input from agencies) 

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