China's home prices remain stable in July

BEIJING - Home prices in major Chinese cities remained stable in July as the government continued stepping up property curbs, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Wednesday.

Four first-tier cities, namely Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou, saw new home prices rise 0.2 percent in July from a month ago, 0.4 percentage points lower than that reported in June, according to the NBS.

In breakdown, new home prices in Shanghai fell while prices in Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen rose 0.2 percent, 0.6 percent, and 0.5 percent, respectively.

New home prices in 31 second-tier cities rose 1.1 percent in July, 0.1 percentage points lower than that reported in June.

Year-on-year, first-tier cities reported a 0.2 percent increase in new home prices. Existing home prices rose 0.5 percent, 0.4 percentage points higher than a year earlier.

NBS senior statistician Liu Jianwei said local governments continued to step up property regulation in July, strike a balance between demand and supply in order to promote the healthy development of the industry.

New home prices declined year-on-year in two of the 15 "hotspot" cities, where speculative home purchases are monitored, with the most significant price drop of 0.1 percent last month, while 11 cities posted growth and two cities stayed flat.

China's property investment increased 10.2 percent year-on-year in the first seven months, compared to the 9.7-percent expansion recorded in the January-June period, the NBS said on Tuesday.

During previous years, rocketing housing prices, especially in major cities, fueled concerns about asset bubbles. To curb speculation, local governments rolled out restrictions on purchasing homes and increased the minimum down payment required for a mortgage.

Seen as a major prop to the Chinese economy, the once-overheated sector has thus far remained largely stable amid efforts to help defuse financial risks.