China: Housing market shows signs of recovery in January–February
House prices in 70 large- and medium-sized cities increased 0.3% month on month in February, according to a weighted average index calculated by Refinitiv from data issued by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The print followed January’s 0.1% increase. House prices decreased 1.2% annually in February, following January’s 1.5% decrease.
Meanwhile, in January–February, the contractions in real estate investment, commercial building sales and real estate funding all narrowed sharply from their 2022 averages. Moreover, the national real estate climate indicator improved to a four-month high. This data suggests that the property sector has bottomed out, and a further recovery is likely in the months ahead now that Covid-19 restrictions have been lifted and housing-market curbs eased.