China housing price growth slows in October on stricter home-buying norms

Housing price growth in China slowed during the month of October, following stricter home-buying regulations, in the form of curbs that led to a greater disparity and inconvenience in buying, pulling residential prices down. The government had imposed real estate regulations to curb the rising housing bubble.

China’s new-home prices, excluding government-subsidized housing, gained last month in 62 of the 70 cities tracked by the government, compared with 63 in September, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed Friday. Prices dropped in seven cities, compared with six a month earlier. They were unchanged in one.

New-home prices in Shenzhen, fell 0.5 percent in October from September, the first decline in two years, while those in Beijing fell 0.4 percent in the second half of October, and declined 0.1 percent in Shanghai.

Further, according to Bloomberg calculations based on the government data, average new-home prices in the 70 cities tracked rose 1 percent in October from a month earlier, when they gained 1.8 percent.

"Home prices in first-tier and red-hot second-tier cities apparently stabilized in the second half of October after those regions announced fine-tuned curbs. Five cities, from the capital Beijing to southern port city Xiamen, snapped a streak of price gains," Bloomberg reported, citing statements from the NBS.

Meanwhile, the USD/CNY remained bullish at 6.89, up 0.36 percent and reaching the day’s high, after largely recovering from yesterday’s losses.