China property prices increase further in July

Country:  China

10 August 2009

Residential property prices across the country’s major cities appreciated further last month, official figures showed this morning, as the government’s economic stimulus package works to positive effect.

Prices of Chinese homes in 70 major cities rose by 1% year-on-year in July, according to the National Development and Reform Commission and the National Bureau of Statistics.

That followed a 0.2% property price rise in June – the first monthly rise in the index in 2009, following six consecutive monthly price falls since December.

The average rice of a new house in China increased by 0.3% in July from a year ago, compared with a fall of 0.6% in June, while average existing hoe price rose 3%, up from 2.2% in the previous month.

Since October, the government has introduced a series of measures, including tax breaks and preferential rates for first-home buyers, to boost china’s previously flagging property market.

Additionally, analysts believe that inflation expectations due to a surge in new bank loans so far this year is also driving the property sector's recovery.

New loans for the first half of the year amounted to a record £660,000, according to recent bank figures.

See Also:   China, Marc Da-Silva, Overseas property investor news