China's home prices slightly increase in March

BEIJING -- China continued to see a generally stable housing market in March, with home prices in 70 major cities showing mild month-on-month increases, official data showed Friday.

New home prices in four first-tier cities -- Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou -- rose 0.4 percent month-on-month in March, compared with a 0.5-percent increase registered in February, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

A total of 31 second-tier cities saw a month-on-month increase of 0.5 percent in new home prices, while 35 third-tier cities witnessed a month-on-month rise of 0.3 percent in new home prices last month.

The resale home market in first-tier cities saw prices increase 1 percent month on month in March, edging down 0.1 percentage points from February.

Prices of resale homes in second-tier cities saw a 0.4-percent month-on-month increase, while those in third-tier cities climbed 0.3 percent.

On a year-on-year basis, home prices registered faster expansion due to low base effects, according to the NBS.

New home prices in first-tier cities rose 5.2 percent in March, up from 4.8-percent growth in February, while those in second-tier cities went up 4.8 percent, up from a 4.5-percent expansion in the previous month.

The resale home prices in first-tier cities grew 11.4 percent from a year earlier, expanding 0.6 percentage points from the growth in February.

Separate NBS data on Friday showed China's investment in property development rose 25.6 percent year-on-year in the first quarter, while commercial housing sales surged 63.8 percent year-on-year in terms of floor area to 360.07 million square meters.

In this year's government work report, China reiterated the principle that "housing is for living in, not for speculation," vowing to keep the prices of land and housing as well as market expectations stable.