China’s Beijing A private poll indicated that China’s April new house prices climbed at a somewhat slower rate compared with March gains, a private poll indicated on Sunday, with policy-easing actions by local governments failing to considerably improve purchasing optimism.
New house prices in 100 cities gained 0.02 percent from a month earlier, moderating from the 0.03 percent advance in March, according to survey data from China Index Academy, one of the country’s leading independent real estate research organizations.
More than 80 cities have taken steps this year to boost demand after the property market, which is a big part of China’s economic growth, slowed down a lot in 2021 because Beijing was cracking down on unsustainable debt in the industry.
People in Shanghai, where COVID-19 has been a big problem this year, haven’t been as happy. They were put on lockdown for a month in order to stop the virus from spreading.
Measures to promote purchasing include incentives, reduced down payments, reductions in mortgage rates and flexibility on requirements for property acquisitions.
According to the state-backed Securities Daily, certain banks in Zhangjiakou, 180 kilometres (110 miles) northwest of Beijing, have reduced minimum down payments as of April 18.
Banks in more than 23 places eased restrictions on housing funds for some people who bought homes in April.
Data from the China Index Academy poll showed that 44 of the 100 cities looked at saw new house prices rise in April, compared to 37 cities in March.
Last week, the research firm Capital Economics predicted that if the virus situation improves, house sales will pick up again.
