House prices have hopefully been tamed

THE NATIONAL BUREAU of Statistics has released the latest data on property prices in 70 big and medium-sized cities. The prices of new houses in 11 key cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, have all fallen slightly since last year. Beijing News comments:

It is good news that the crazily rising house prices have been tamed. However, the question arises: Are falling house prices a sign of realty prices becoming rational again, or merely a temporary result of the macro-control measures of local governments?

Many worry the answer might be the latter. True, a look at house prices over the past 20 years shows a rising trend in general, and they have only fallen now and then in response to macro-control measures.