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发帖数: 3205 | 1 China Property Prices Decline
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405297020455390457710531
By OWEN FLETCHER And ESTHER FUNG
BEIJING—Average property prices in Chinese cities saw a second consecutive
monthly drop in November, according to government data released Sunday, in a
further sign that Beijing's two-year tightening campaign to cool the red-
hot property market is having an impact.
Data on 70 Chinese cities released by the National Bureau of Statistics and
analyzed by The Wall Street Journal show average home prices declined by 0.
17% in November compared with October, compared with a 0.13% decrease in
October and a 0.01% increase in both September and August. Prices rose 2.3%
on average in November from a year earlier, moderating from a 3% increase in
October.
Prices of newly built homes in 49 of the 70 large and medium-sized Chinese
cities that the bureau surveyed fell in November on a sequential basis, up
from 34 cities in October.
The survey also showed that prices of newly built homes in five of the 70
cities rose month-to-month in November, lower than the 16 cities in October.
On a year-to-year basis, prices of newly built homes fell in four of the 70
cities in November, higher than the two cities in October.
Prices of newly built homes in major cities such as Beijing, Shanghai,
Shenzhen and Guangzhou—often described as China's first-tier, or most
developed, cities—were marginally lower compared with October, the
statement said.
Analysts said that while the central government has shifted its priority to
supporting economic growth from combating inflation, it remains set on
controlling property prices. The People's Bank of China cut banks' reserve-
requirement ratio by half a percentage point effective Dec. 5, helping ease
liquidity in the country.
Efforts to tame property prices represent a delicate balancing act by the
government. Housing costs are a volatile political issue and feed into broad
worries over inflation in China's economy. But economists say roughly 25%
of China's gross domestic product comes from housing and related industries.
A sharper-than-expected downturn in property could complicate China's
effort to insulate the economy from the European debt crisis and sluggish
growth in the U.S., which have both reduced demand for China's exports.
Various levels of China's government have taken a number of steps to tame
property prices, including limiting the number of second homes a person can
buy. A handful of cities have taken more stern measures, including limiting
the sale of property over a certain price in a few cases.
Write to Owen Fletcher at o***********[email protected] |
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