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New home prices up 0.1% month-on-month, first rise in a
year
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More cities reported new home price increases in Jan
BEIJING, Feb 16 (Reuters) - China's new home prices rose in January for the first time in a year, official data showed on Thursday, as the end of the zero-COVID regime, favourable property policies and market expectations for more stimulus measures boosted demand. New home prices in January were up 0.1% month-on-month, versus a 0.2% slide in December, according to Reuters calculations based on National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data released on Thursday. Prices dropped 1.5% year-on-year, falling for the ninth consecutive month, in line with the 1.5% year-on-year decline in December. More major cities among the 70 surveyed by NBS reported increases in new home prices last month, with prices rising in 36 cities, up from 15 in December. The property sector, once an engine of the world's second-largest economy, has been hobbled by fragile demand and developers' mounting debt defaults.
Authorities have rolled out a flurry of aggressive stimulus measures to prop up the sector since late last year, including encouraging property financing and allowing eligible cities to cut or abolish the floor on mortgage rates for first-home buyers. Sentiment has been improving, buoyed by Beijing's COVID-19 policy U-turn in December and supportive measures, but analysts believe more stimulative polices are needed for a strong recovery. The market expects Beijing will roll out more easing measures to further revive the sector, especially during or after a highly-anticipated annual parliament meeting starting in early March. (Reporting by Liangping Gao, Ella Cao and Ryan Woo; Editing by Jamie Freed)
