In May this year, average new house prices in 100 major cities in China amounted to RMB 17,156/square meter ($2,515.5/sq.m.), up 0.16 percent month on month, while rising by 2.03 percent year on year, as announced by CIA, the largest independent property research organization in China.
Meanwhile, in May, the average second-hand house prices in the 100 major Chinese cities amounted to RMB 12,692/square meter ($1,861/sq.m.), down 0.32 percent month on month, 0.14 percentage points slower than the decline recorded in April this year, while down 7.99 percent year on year, 0.35 percentage points slower than the year-on-year decline recorded in the previous month.
In May, official policies continued to stabilize the market, with progress made in urban renewal, inventory revitalization and housing provident fund optimization. Looking ahead, local governments are expected to continue implementing policies on a city-specific basis. On the demand side, home purchase costs may be further reduced, for example, through lower mortgage rates and mortgage interest subsidies. On the supply side, efforts to purchase existing commercial housing and idle land for government reserves are likely to be stepped up, alongside the accelerated rollout of policies like "trade-in programs" (purchasing old homes to facilitate upgrades) to unblock the housing replacement chain.
Since the mid-year sales season is approaching, the pace of new launches of quality projects in key cities and the intensity of real estate developers’ marketing activities are both expected to increase, while new home sales in core cities may continue a trend of modest recovery.
