China's big cities see housing market cool down in April

A real estate agent recommends houses to his clients. (Photo：China News Service/Wei Liang)

(ECNS) -- China's first and second-tier cities saw housing sales fall in April, while third-tier cities posted a slight increase, the Economic Information Daily reports, citing data released by China Index Academy on Tuesday.

First-tier cities witnessed a drop of 30.5 percent in the trading volume of houses from March and 34.6 percent year-on-year; second-tier cities saw a decrease of 16 percent month-on-month and 35.5 percent year-on-year; and third-tier cities registered a rise of 9.39 percent month-on-month and 11.1 percent year-on-year.

Among first-tier cities, Beijing and Shenzhen saw a slight rise from March, while Shanghai and Guangzhou posted a fall of more than 30 percent. But all cities fell year-on-year, with Shanghai experiencing the steepest drop, down by 41.4 percent.

Also on Tuesday, Centaline Property Research Center released data showing that China's overall housing market fell in April. In Beijing, only 2,138 units of commercial housing were sold in April, down 59 percent year-on-year and 19.6 percent from March, said Zhang Dawei, chief analyst at Centaline Property. Shanghai, Guangzhou, Fuzhou and Suzhou all tumbled by more than 30 percent.

Zhang said more than 55 cities have rolled out about 160 regulatory measures since September 30, 2016, and that Beijing has issued more than 10. The new round of regulatory policy has included dual-purpose buildings with residential and commercial units for the first time, he noted. So far, Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu have issued related policies, and several others have even imposed restrictions on sales of dual-purpose units.

Thanks to regulatory measures, the second-hand market also cooled in April, it was added.

Ding Zuyu, executive president of E-House China, said fewer regulatory measures would be issued in May and emphasis would be put on implementation instead.