New home prices rise in mainland

June Chen and Reuters

Prices of new homes in China rose at a slightly faster pace in December, as the crisis-hit property sector struggles to find a bottom on the heels of a slew of supportive government policies.

The average price of new homes across 100 cities in the mainland rose by 2.68 percent to 16,654 yuan (HK$17,724.56) per square meter in December compared to the same period a year earlier, due to some high-quality projects launched, according to China Index Academy.

On a month-on-month basis, the average price rose 0.37 percent in December. It rose 0.36 percent in November.

The average price of second-hand residential homes in 100 surveyed cities was 14,203 yuan per sq m last month - a month-on-month decline of 0.53 percent and a year-on-year decrease of 7.26 percent. The drop expanded by 3.73 percentage points compared with 2023.

In 2024, home prices for second-hand homes in first-tier cities fell by 6.09 percent cumulatively, and after the introduction of the stimulus policy on September 26 last year, prices in first-tier cities rebounded significantly in the secondary market, and only fell by 0.33 percent in the fourth quarter.

In Beijing, the number of transactions for second-hand flats in December surged by 66 percent year-on-year to over 21,000 - a record in nearly 21 months, according to the local government.

Home prices in the secondary market in the capital edged down 0.1 percent month-on-month in December. The decline narrowed by 0.02 percentage points from November.

The primary market in first-tier cities saw an average home price increase of 5.82 percent last year.

New homes in Shanghai saw their prices rise the highest in 2024, with an accumulated increase of 10.32 percent.

Official data for home prices will be released by China's statistics bureau on January 17.

China's policymakers in recent months doubled down on their efforts to revive the sector, which crashed in 2021 after a government-led campaign to rein in indebted developers left them severely cash-strapped.

Since September, measures aimed at encouraging home purchases have included cutting mortgage rates and minimum down-payments, as well as tax incentives.