China in December faced the fallen prices of new homes again as Covid-19 affected the demand. Meanwhile, Beijing tried to find a measure to recover the situation, as Zhang Dawei, chief analyst at property agency Centaline, said that China needs policies to boost up demand.
According to Reuters calculations based on the data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday, prices in December last year dropped 0.2% on a monthly basis, marking its fifth straight month of decline. From the same period of last year, prices in December 2022 dropped 1.5%.
Meanwhile, prices in Beijing and Shanghai rose from the earlier month, while Shenzhen and Guangzhou saw a decline in price at a slower pace.
The property sector has been the most important factor to push the world’s second-largest economy. Last year the developer failed to finish the project, causing mortgage boycotts by some buyers. The Central Bank announced for the cities where the prices fell for three consecutive months, the floor rates could be lowered or abolished for first time home buyers in phases.
Rong360, Chinese mortgage data provider, forecast mortgage rates for the first home buyer in 42 cities in December was 4.16%, down 137 basis points from last year and the lowest since 2015.
