China’s New Home Prices See Slowest Growth in 8 Months

Construction site of an Evergrande housing complex in Beijing on Sept. 13, 2021. Greg Baker/AFP

Data on Sept. 15 showed China’s home-price growth eased to an 8-month low, as property investment in August rose at the slowest pace in 18 months.

Average new home prices in 70 major Chinese cities grew 0.2 percent last month after rising 0.3 percent in July, according to Reuters calculations based on data released by the National Bureau of Statistics.

New home prices rose 4.2 percent in August from a year earlier, versus a 4.6 percent increase in July.

Chinese authorities moved to curb the property industry in the past year, including tightening home-purchase rules and capping banks’ lending.

The country’s second-largest property developer China Evergrande Group, is also struggling with cash flow and possible default for failing to sell assets fast enough to balance its $300 billion debts.

Tao Ray, a former scholar from Harvard University, told The Epoch Times on he expects that Chinese authorities will intervene in the market to curb the overall decline in home prices.

“People will see China’s real estate enter a priceless stage, where house prices do not fall, but the growth rate slows down with market turnover falls,” he said.

Luo Ya and Reuters contributed to this report.