China's home prices remain stable in October

China's property market remained stable in October with home prices falling or posting slower growth in major cities amid tough control policies, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Saturday.

On a yearly basis, new residential housing prices saw slower growth in 13 of the 15 major cities considered the "hottest markets," according to the NBS report, showing that the new residential housing prices fell in nine of the 15 cities on a month-on-month basis.

The report shows that the new home prices in Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chengdu climbed 0.1, 0.3, and 0.7 percent, respectively.

Of the 70 large and medium-sized cities surveyed, home prices in 50 cities rose month on month, compared with 44 in September.

China's home prices continue to stabilize

According to the report, under the prices that remained resilient in the face of falling sales and a tighter liquidity environment, China’s new home prices rose at a slightly faster pace in October after gains had held steady the previous month.

NBS statistician Liu Jianwei told CGTN that, China's housing prices were "generally stable" in major cities as control policies in different cities continued to take effect.

New residential housing prices in the country's first-tier cities dropped 0.1 percent compared with a month earlier, while second-hand home prices remained flat.

On a yearly basis, both new and second-hand home prices in the first-tier cities reported slower growth for the 13th consecutive month in October.

China’s housing market has seen a near two-year boom, giving the economy a major boost but stirring fears of a property bubble, with the government taking strong measures to curtail purchases.

Authorities have been particularly focused on curbing speculative lending in the housing market and have continued a broad effort to defuse financial risks from a rapid build-up in debt in the economy.

The number of cities surveyed that recorded monthly increases in prices increased in October, indicating broadening strength in markets nationwide.

New home prices rose 5.4 percent year-on-year in October, down from September’s 6.3 percent increase as rapid increases subside in the face of government efforts to engineer a soft landing in the housing market.

Data on Monday showed household loans, mostly for property purchases, fell to 450.1 billion yuan in October from 734.9 billion yuan in September.

Since late last year, dozens of local governments have passed or expanded restrictions on house purchases and increased the minimum down payment required for a mortgage.

Earlier data showed that real estate investment growth also slowed in the first 10 months to 7.8 percent year on year, down from 8.1 percent in the first three quarters.

(CGTN)