House prices rebound in June

Twenty-five major Chinese cities saw a rebound in the price of new real estate projects in June, according to a report by the National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday.

But of the 70 cities monitored by the bureau for real estate trends, 21 saw month-on-month price decreases of new homes in June and another 24 saw little change.

At the same time, 31 cities reported higher prices for established homes in June than in May.

In June, Beijing saw 0.3 percent month-on-month growth and both Shanghai and Guangzhou had 0.2 percent month-on-month growth in the price of new homes. Shenzhen in Guangdong province saw a 0.1 percent month-on-month decrease in this category.

The average price of new homes is still lower than last year, according to Ma Xiaoming, a senior statistician with the bureau.

And more than 80 percent of the surveyed cities reported year-on-year decreases of the average price of new and established homes.

In June, the average price of new homes in Beijing saw a 1.3 percent year-on-year decrease, in Shanghai a 1.9 percent decrease, in Guangzhou a 1.6 percent decrease and in Shenzhen a 2.5 percent decrease.

Ma said the figures show that as a result of consistent efforts, the skyrocketing trend in housing prices has been curbed and policy controls have proved effective.

Xue Jianxiong, an analyst with China Real Estate Information Corp, a realty information provider, said housing prices in Shanghai have been rising since April, which was seen as a turning point.

There is little chance Shanghai will see a drop in housing prices in the near future, said Xue.

Established homes measuring between 90 square meters and 110 sq m are becoming increasingly popular, and have seen a 5 percent increase in average price since April, according to Zhang Yulin, an analyst with Xinyuan Property Agency in Shanghai.

Across China, homebuyers are feeling the pressure of booming house prices.

Gao Bo, a 30-year-old resident of Urumqi, capital of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, said he has been looking for a new house for his family of three in the northern district of the city for a year, but has not yet signed a purchase contract.

"The price still keeps going up, even 1 square meter in a city suburb costs nearly 8,000 yuan ($1,255). My salary is around 4,000 yuan per month, so it is difficult for me to buy. I hope the price will decrease as in other cities," Gao said.

Chinese cities reported shrinking land trade in the first half of 2012, according to statistics released by the China Real Estate Information Corp on Wednesday.

Authorities in 30 cities supplied nearly 210 million sq m of land for commercial development in the first half of this year, a 7 percent decrease from that of the same period last year and 41 percent lower than in the second half of 2011.

A total of 161 million sq m of land for commercial development has been transferred, an 18 percent year-on-year decrease and 28 percent lower than in the second half of 2011.

The land transfer market in China is warming up, according to a report by China Index Academy, a realty information services provider.

The average premium rate of land transfer in the 300 cities monitored by the company rose to 10 percent in June, the highest recorded in 2012. The average premium rate in the first half of 2012 was 5 percent, the report said.

A parcel of land auctioned in Beijing on July 7 saw a premium rate of 40 percent and was traded at 2.63 billion yuan.

The fourth quarter of 2012 may see a peak in land trade, according to Li Ying, an analyst with China Real Estate Information Corp.

Li Xiuhui in Shanghai and Shao Wei in Urumqi contributed to this story.

wuyiyao@chinadaily.com.cn