In May this year, of 70 major Chinese cities surveyed, new house prices in first-tier cities rose by 0.2 percent month on month, compared to the rise of 0.1 percent seen in April, while decreasing by 1.7 percent year on year, 0.4 percentage points slower compared to the year-on-year decrease in April this year, as announced by China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
In China’s second-tier cities, prices of second-hand houses in May saw a year-on-year decline of 5.7 percent, with the pace of the decline 0.2 percentage points slower compared to that recorded in April, while down 0.2 percent month on month. In third-tier cities, second-hand house prices in May saw a year-on-year decrease of 6.2 percent, with the pace of the decline 0.1 percentage point slower compared to that recorded in April, while down 0.4 percent month on month.
The real estate industry is a key industry for steel demand. New house prices in first-tier cities decreased by 1.7 percent year on year in May, signaling the ongoing weak demand for steel, especially for steel bars, resulting in more steel bars being directed to the export market. In the first five months, China’s exports of steel bars totaled 8.0 million mt, up 6.5 percent year on year, 0.6 percentage points higher than the decline recorded in the first four months.
As previously reported by SteelOrbis, in the January-May period this year, total real estate investments in China amounted to RMB 3.0356 trillion ($0.45 trillion), down 16.2 percent year on year, 2.6 percentage points faster than the decline recorded in the January-April period, reflecting the continuing weak performance of the real estate sector, which negatively affected the demand for steel.
