Chinese cities see slower house price growth in February

BEIJING - Home prices in Chinese cities grew at a slower pace in February and are expected to remain stable, according to the China Index Academy, a property research institution.

The average price of new homes in 100 cities increased 0.1 percent month-on-month in February, down 0.12 percentage points from January, according to a statement from the institution.

With continued pullback of the monthly growth rate, the change in average house prices of most Chinese cities was less than 1 percent last month, the statement added.

Due to the Spring Festival, February is usually the off-season of China's real estate market. Many Chinese cities rolled out this year's real estate market policies in a bid to maintain market stability last month.

Fang Hang, the institution's analyst, estimated that the future real estate market is moving toward a more reasonable direction and investment is growing at a slower pace.