China's Housing Market Continues to Pick Up

China's housing market continued to warm in February with more than half of surveyed major cities reporting month-on-month rises in new home prices.

    Of the 70 large and medium-sized cities surveyed in February, new home prices climbed month on month in 47, up from 38 the previous month, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a statement carried by Xinhua News Agency. Meanwhile, 15 reported month-on-month price declines, down from 24 in January, according to National Bureau of Statistics data. 

    On a yearly basis, 32 cities posted new-home price increases and 37 reported falls, compared with 25 and 45 in January. New-home prices soared 57.8% year on year in the southern city of Shenzhen, the sharpest increase last month among all major cities, followed by Shanghai and Beijing, where prices surged 25.1% and 14.2% year on year. Northeastern city of Dandong registered the steepest price decline, dropping by 3.9%. 

    Prices for existing homes also warmed up last month, with 34 cities reporting higher month-on-month prices and 28 reporting lower prices.

Source : QNA