China's first-tier cities report housing price rise in May

BEIJING - Home prices in China's first-tier cities, namely Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, increased month on month in May, official data showed Tuesday.

New home prices in the four first-tier cities edged up 0.2 percent month on month in May, with the pace of growth widening by 0.1 percentage points from April, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Specifically, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen saw new home prices rise 0.2 percent, 0.2 percent and 0.4 percent, respectively, while Beijing reported a 0.2-percent decline.

New home prices in second-tier cities dropped 0.1 percent month on month, unchanged from the previous month, while those in third-tier cities fell 0.4 percent, 0.1 percentage points higher than in April, according to the NBS.

Among the 70 large and medium-sized cities surveyed, 16 cities reported month-on-month increases in new home prices, two more than in April, the NBS said.