Prices Rise in China Property Market

Despite price control measures such as ban on a third-party home purchase, raising home transaction costs and property tax trials, home prices in prime Chinese cities continued to escalate in August.

Out of 100 cities, 63 major cities saw a rise in prices, indicating a warming real estate sector, according to the data released by Chinese Real Estate Index System (CREIS).

This is the third straight increase with August recording an average price escalation of 0.24 percent from last month, People’s Daily Online reported. July saw a 0.7 percent increase from the previous month in the largest number of cities.

The average price of newly constructed homes too inched up 0.45 percent to 15,539 yuan per sq m in August in 10 major cities including Beijing and Shanghai stood, the report showed.

Transactions Drop

Meanwhile, transactions of newly built property dipped 5.7 percent compared to last month, the China Daily reported quoting a study by the Centaline Property Agency. The report showed that in 54 major cities, only 262,416 apartments was traded compared to July’s 278,162.

In some cities, "the decline in supply is the major cause of the sliding transaction volume," Zhang Dawei, head of the research department at Hong Kong-based Centaline, told the China Daily. But cities such as Beijing and Shenzhen saw increased sales in August. In Beijing, a total of 14,525 homes were sold, a 21.5 percent increase from July, and in Shenzhen, 3,751 homes were traded, recording a 14.15 percent rise, the China Daily report showed.

However, experts believe that transactions will pick up in the next couple of months, though prices are expected to remain more or less stable.

“September and October are traditionally popular months for property sales," Zhong An Real Estate chairman Shi Kancheng told the Standard. "This year will be no exception."