China’s new home prices increased last month for the second straight month, a survey showed yesterday, as official stimulus policies helped boost the market.
The average price of a new home in China’s 100 major cities rose 0.56 percent month-on-month to 10,628 yuan (US$1,714) per square meter, the China Index Academy said in a report.
The result comes on the heels of a 0.5 percent gain in May, the first increase in four months. Prices fell for eight consecutive months to December last year.
Authorities have taken steps to support the stagnating property market in the form of interest rate cuts and other measures, which the academy cited as helping to boost demand and “accelerate recovery in the market.”
China’s central bank on Saturday announced its latest cut in benchmark interest rates, the fourth such move since November last year, and has taken other measures such as easing mortgage policies.
In late March it lowered minimum downpayment levels on second homes nationwide, rolling back a four-year-old policy introduced to rein in soaring prices that were making home ownership unaffordable for many and raising worries over social unrest.
The central bank also shortened the ownership period during which sellers are liable to a 20 percent capital gains tax on properties other than their main home.
On a year-on-year basis, house prices fell 2.7 percent last month compared with a decline of 3.73 percent in May, the academy said.
The average price in China’s top 10 cities was 19,357 yuan per square meter, down 0.82 percent from a year earlier — slowing sharply from a fall of 2.33 percent in May.
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