China reports falling home prices in May

BEIJING - Major Chinese cities saw falling home prices in May, official data showed on Monday.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said that 70 large and medium-sized cities recorded month-on-month declines in both new and second-hand home prices.

In first-tier cities, namely Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, new home prices edged down by 0.7 percent. Meanwhile, second and third-tier cities registered declines of 0.7 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively.

Prices of second-hand homes fell by 1.2 percent in first-tier cities, 1 percent in second-tier cities, and 0.9 percent in third-tier cities, the NBS said.

Despite the falling prices, NBS spokesperson Liu Aihua highlighted positive changes in the property market, noting that the year-on-year decline in sales of newly built commercial housing has narrowed in the first five months of the year.

Last month, China implemented a series of policies to support the property market, including reducing minimum down payment ratios, removing commercial mortgage rate floors for first and second homes, and establishing a re-lending facility for government-subsidized housing projects.

Liu said these measures will take some time to have an impact and the property market remains in the process of adjustment.