China’s new home prices fell at the fastest pace in more than nine years in August, official data showed on Saturday, as supportive measures failed to spur a meaningful recovery in the property sector.
New home prices were down 5.3% from a year earlier, the fastest pace since May 2015, compared with a 4.9% slide in July, according to Reuters calculations based on National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data.
In monthly terms, new home prices fell for the fourteenth straight month, down 0.7%, matching a dip in July.
The property market continues to grapple with deeply indebted developers, incomplete apartments, and declining buyer confidence, straining the financial system and endangering the 5% economic growth target for the year.
A Reuters poll predicted China’s home prices will fall by 8.5% in 2024, and decline by 3.9% in 2025, as the sector struggles to stabilise.
China’s property market is still in the process of gradually bottoming out as home buyers’ demand, income and confidence will take some time to recover, said Zhang Dawei, chief analyst at property agency Centaline.
“The market is looking forward to a stronger policy.”
Property investment fell 10.2% and home sales slumped 18.0% year-on-year in the first eight months, according to official data also released on Saturday.
