BEIJING: Prices of new homes in China rose at their slowest pace in seven months in July, a private survey showed on Thursday, suggesting the crisis-hit property sector was struggling to recover despite a slew of supportive policies.
The average price for new homes across 100 cities edged up 0.13 per cent from a month earlier, weaker than the 0.15 per cent rise in June, according to data from property researcher China Index Academy.
The average price of second-hand homes fell 0.74 per cent month-on-month in July from a 0.73 per cent fall the previous month, the 27th straight month of declines, showed the data.
A crisis among developers which began in 2021 has created a glut of unfinished presold homes and a large inventory of unsold apartments that have weighed heavily on home prices, consumer confidence and economic growth.
Authorities have rolled out a flurry of support measures, including cutting home buying costs and mortgage rates which have helped boost demand in major cities but not prices across the board.
The politburo, a top decision-making body, on Tuesday pledged to continue to support the delivery of unfinished projects and turn unsold apartments into affordable housing.
"The new headwinds, including slumping IPO listings and the steep pay cut in the financial sector could further dampen housing demand, while the latest round of 10bp new mortgage rate cut – as the latest effort to boost demand – is like pushing on a string," economists at Nomura said in a research note.
Nomura expected the property sector to drop further in the second half of the year and the rolling out of more meaningful policy measures after September.