Prices for new Chinese homes fell less in December in promotions, Reuters eased the cuts

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s new home prices fell more slowly than a month earlier in December, official figures showed on Saturday as a reduction in marginal financing and helped real estate developers stabilize demand.

Average prices for new homes in China’s 70 major cities fell 0.2% in December from a month earlier, slower than a 0.3% drop in November, according to data released by Reuters National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

China’s real estate market has slowed since June 2021 as regulators stepped up their deleveraging campaign against the inflated sector, affecting the defaults of some heavily indebted companies.

But the decline moderated as several city authorities and real estate developers implemented measures to boost home sales in December, with local governments offering subsidies to buyers and real estate companies.

Monthly prices rose in 15 of the 70 cities, with prices rising in November in nine cities.

“The property market is gradually taking a bottom line with the end of the tight credit period,” said Zhang Dawei, a senior analyst at the property agency Centaline. Primary and secondary cities will be the first to emerge from the recession, he said.

New home prices rose by 2.6% year-on-year in December, slower than the 3.0% growth recorded in November.

In a recent statement, analysts at Oxford Economics said that central and local authorities are expected to take steps to address the risks of failures by real estate developers, such as increasing credit to the sector and adjusting the strict “three red lines” policy set by developers. .

The extension of payment granted by the bondholders to the secret developer China Evergrande Group has come to emphasize the need for the authorities to maintain economic stability.

Yan Yuejin, director of research at the Shanghai-based E-house China Research and Development Institute, said that given the high economic impact of the real estate market, it is expected to continue easing property policies in the first quarter due to the high economic impact of the real estate market.

“The December data is a positive sign that housing prices have not fallen further.”