China home deals surge 32pc

Property transactions in 16 major Chinese cities surged 32 percent month-on-month in February, according to the China Index Academy.

The surge helped bring the year-on-year decline down to 7.6 percent, the real estate research institute said.

The turnover rate of the market in first-tier cities increased by 5 percent on a monthly basis, with Guangzhou and Shenzhen experiencing the most significant growth rate of 79 percent and 57 percent respectively.

In contrast, Shanghai saw a drop in both monthly and yearly terms, with a 13 percent decline monthly and a 32 percent decline yearly.

Meanwhile, second and third-tier cities saw a substantial increase of over 40 percent month-on-month, with Jinan experiencing a surge of 108 percent.

The total inventory of apartments in Beijing, Fuzhou, Wenzhou, Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Nanjin declined slightly with Shenzhen seeing a more substantial fall of 4.9 percent compared with January.