China's home market warms as curbs lifted

(chinadaily.com.cn) Updated: 2014-08-04 18:21

Chinese property market is beginning to see a slight upturn as more cities opt to ease home purchase restrictions, leading to a surge in home sales in some of the cities, China Business News reported on Monday.

July home sales reached 12,400 units in Jinan, capital of Shandong province, which lifted curbs on July 10, an increase of up to 92 percent from last month, the report cited statistics from property information provider Fang.com.

Three days after Zhejiang's affluent Hangzhou city eased restrictions on July 29, home sales in the city increased 79.67 percent on daily basis compared to those before the move. In July, a total of 6,074 units were sold, up 22.98 percent month-on-month.

Most of homes were snatched by those who kept a wait-and-see attitude before the restrictions were eased and were afraid that home prices would go up again, the newspaper cited industry analysts.

Meanwhile, Wenzhou and Hohhot also saw a slight growth in home sales in the same period.

However, other cities such as Xiamen and Nanchang didn't get as lucky. The move to lift restrictions seemed futile in those cities, with some even seeing a continued sales drop in the cooling market, the newspaper said.

Despite that, the newspaper, citing a report released by China Index Academy, said local policy adjustments in the real estate market could help lift positive expectation for investors, leading to a recovery of the housing market.

But the move alone cannot fundamentally reduce piling inventories. The property market is also in need of sufficient financial support and more promotions from developers, the report said.

In China, among 46 cities that introduced property policies, more than 60 percent have lifted home purchase restrictions.