Home price growth slows over 8 months

Home price growth in cities across China has slowed for eight consecutive months, and some key cities experienced declining average home prices in May as more cities introduced stricter measures against speculation, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics released on Monday.

According to Liu Jianwei, a senior statistician with the NBS, which monitors home prices in 70 cities in China, average new home price growth in first-tier cities dropped 2.2 percent month-on-month, and average pre-owned home price growth in first-tier cities declined 1.7 percent.

In second-tier cities, average new home price growth dropped 0.8 percent, and pre-owned home price growth went down 0.5 percent.