China: House prices decline in annual terms in July
House prices in 70 large- and medium-sized cities were stable month-on-month in July, according to a weighted average index calculated by Refinitiv from data issued by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), following June’s stable reading.
On an annual basis, house prices fell at a sharper rate of 0.9% in July (June: -0.5% yoy), the worst result since September 2015. Meanwhile, annual average house price growth fell to 1.8% in July (June: +2.3%). This signals a worsening trend in the sector.
Other housing market indicators continued to show distress in the real estate market, with the declines in property investment, residential housing starts and real estate developer funding deepening in January–July relative to January–June. Concerns over further stop-start Covid-19 restrictions, debt-laden developers and recent mortgage boycotts will keep the property market subdued in the near term, notwithstanding interest rate cuts by the Central Bank and the partial rollback of property market curbs.