China’s property development investment continues slower growth

2017-07-17
Xinhua

BEIJING — Growth of China’s property development investment continued to decelerate in the first half of the year as the market showed signs of cooling down, official data showed on July 17.

Investment in property development expanded 8.5 percent year on year for January-June, down from 8.8 percent during the first five months, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Housing sales measured by floor area rose 16.1 percent for the first half, with growth up from 14.3 percent for January-May.

Growth of housing sales value also accelerated to 21.5 percent in the first six months from 18.6 percent in the first five months.

There has been continued progress of destocking in the property market, with areas of the unsold homes down 9.6 percent at the end of June compared with one year earlier, NBS spokesperson Xing Zhihong told a press conference.

The data adds to evidence that China’s property market boom is running out of steam as the government continues cooling measures to quash potential asset bubbles.

Rocketing housing prices, especially in major cities, had fueled concerns about asset bubbles. Since the end of 2016, dozens of local governments have passed or expanded their restrictions on house purchases and increased the minimum down payment required for a mortgage.

The data sets were released as part of a series of economic figures unveiled by the NBS, including GDP, retail sales, industrial production and fixed asset investment, which showed the world’s second-largest economy continued to maintain stable growth.