Chinese new-home prices fell in May from a year earlier in 54 of 70 cities, compared with declines in 43 cities in April, as developers cut prices to boost sales amid housing curbs.
The eastern city of Wenzhou led declines with a 14 percent slump in values from a year earlier, while Beijing and Shanghai recorded losses of as much as 1.6 percent, according to data released by the statistics bureau today.
According to a government survey, prices of newly built homes in 43 of the 70 large and medium-sized Chinese cities fell in May on a sequential basis, unchanged from 43 cities in April and lower than 46 in March.
On a year-on-year basis, prices of newly built homes fell in 55 of the 70 cities in May, higher than 46 cities in April and 38 cities in March.
Existing home prices in Beijing fell 3.1 percent last month from a year ago, while those in Shanghai dropped 1.5 percent.
A total of 40 cities posted declines in new home prices in May from the previous month. In April, 43 cities recorded lower housing values from March, according to the data.
Home prices were unchanged in Beijing last month from April, while values fell 0.1 percent in both Shanghai and Guangzhou.
Transactions of new and existing homes combined rose 46.5 percent in Beijing in the first half of June as compared with the same period last year, according to a China Securities Journal report.
The newspaper also cited local consultancy Home Link as saying that 21 of the 76 new property projects that hit the market so far this year recorded a rise in transaction prices.
