New home sales by value fell at a continuously slower pace across the country in the first four months of this year amid improving sentiment among buyers, data released today by the National Bureau of Statistics showed.
Nationwide, more than 1.49 trillion yuan (U.S.$240 billion) worth of new residential properties, excluding government-subsidized affordable housing, were sold in China between January and April, a year-on-year decrease of 2.2 percent, the bureau said in a statement posted on its website.
That compared with a 9.1-percent drop registered in the first quarter and a 16.7-percent retreat recorded in the first two months of this year.
By area, 232.84 million square meters of new houses were sold during the four-month period, down 5 percent from same period a year ago. The decline, again, slowed from a 9.8 percent withdrawal registered between January and March and a 17.8 percent drop in the first two months.
"The recent introduction of a series of easing policies are taking effect in boosting market demand while real estate developers are also launching more sales campaigns along with ample supply," said Wang Baobin, a senior statistician at the bureau. "In particular, the rebound is significant in first- and second-tier cities which are usually more sensitive about government policies."
Governments around the country since last year has been lifting home purchase bans to boost demand while the People's Bank of China also loosened mortgage policies for second home buyers as well as cutting interest rates for several times, benefiting both home buyers and developers.
In Shanghai, for instance, the area of new homes sold surged 59.3 percent from March to 1.24 million square meters in April, the highest monthly volume since January, an earlier industry report showed.
Countrywide, investment in residential development rose 3.7 percent year-on-year to 1.59 trillion yuan in the first four months, down 2.2 percentage points from the pace registered in the first quarter, the bureau's data showed.
