China’s New Home Prices Rise in Jan for First Time in a Year

Official data released on Thursday showed that Chinese new home prices increased in January for the first time in a year due to the end of the zero-COVID measure, favorable property regulations, and market anticipation for future stimulus measures.

According to a Reuters calculation based on data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released on Thursday, the monthly change in the price of a new home in January was 0.1%, compared to a 0.2% decrease in December.

Prices fell 1.5% year on year for the ninth consecutive month, matching the 1.5% year on year dip in December.

Once a driving force of the world’s second largest economy, the property market has been struggling under the weight of weak demand and rising developer defaults on their debt.

Since the second part of last year, authorities have thrown out a flurry of aggressive stimulus measures to bolster the industry. These policies include boosting property financing and allowing qualified localities to decrease or abolish the floor on mortgage rates for first-time home purchasers.

Beijing’s policy U-turn on COVID-19 in December and supportive measures have helped boost confidence, but further stimulative policies are needed, according to economists.