China: Growth in house prices decelerates in July
House prices in 70 large- and medium-sized cities increased 0.5% in July in month-on-month terms according to a weighted average index calculated by Refinitiv from data issued by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The print was below the 0.6% rise in June. According to the NBS, the sale price of newly constructed residential buildings increased in 59 of the 70 cities (61 in June).
House prices increased 4.8% annually in July, below June’s 4.9% rise. Annual average growth in house prices fell from 6.7% in June to 6.3% in July.
Putting July’s reading in context, Ting Lu, Lisheng Wang and Jing Wang, economists at Nomura, noted:
“Weaker property price inflation in big cities in July may reflect the impact from tightening measures announced by local housing authorities over the past few months. Beijing’s increasingly hawkish stance on the property sector, including recently reported tightening bond financing requirements for property developers, could weigh on property markets in coming months and prolong the path to full economic recovery.”