Price of New Homes in China falls for Eighth Consecutive Month

According to reports, price of new homes in China fell in April this year. The fall in price is for the eighth consecutive month, which suggested that property sector in the world’s most populous country is continuing to put downward pressure on the country’s economy. The average price in about 70 big cities in the country fell more than 6% compared to last year. In March this year, the average price declined, leading to more distress sales.

The economists stated that the property sector accounts for approximately about 20% of the world's second-largest economy. The property sector is considered as one of the biggest risks to the country’s economic growth, which is close to its slowest growth in about two and half decades this year.

As per the reports, the price for new homes in Beijing fell about 3.2% year over year in April this year. In March, the price fell about 3.7%.On a monthly basis, prices rose slightly in the capital city. Prices in the biggest city of the country, Shanghai, fell about 4.7% from last year, while it was up about 0.6% from March this year.

From January to April of 2014, China’s real estate investment growth continued to decline to lowest since May 2009. In a note, Westpac Global Economics commented on data and said, “Aggregate prices remain under modest downward pressure, but the signs of healing broadened further in April to a larger sample of non-tier 1 cities, while tier-1 prices are now unambiguously rising again”.

As per the Westpac Global Economics, the housing sector in the country has been declining in recent few years because of many curbs from the central government. The Nationals Bureau of Statistics stated that in the first three months of the year, growth fell to 8.5%.