Home prices rise at slowest pace since September

By Lydia Chen  |   2008-6-13  |     ONLINE EDITION

THE average housing price in 70 major Chinese cities last month posted the slowest growth since September, the National Development and Reform Commission said today.

Prices in the 70 cities advanced 9.2 percent in May from a year earlier, after gaining 10.1 percent in April and 10.7 percent in March, the country's top economic planning body said on its Website this morning.

This was the lowest growth since September.

The average price of new homes rose 10.2 percent on a yearly basis in May after gaining 10.8 percent in April and 11.4 percent in March. The gains were led by Urumqi, the capital city of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, where prices jumped 22.8 percent last month, the commission said.

Haikou City in Hainan Province ranked second with a rise of 17.6 percent and was followed by Ningbo City in Zhejiang Province at 16.6 percent, the commission said.

Shanghai's new home prices jumped 9.6 percent last month from a year earlier.

The average price of second-hand homes jumped 8.8 percent in the 70 cities last month year on year, 1.5 percentage points slower than in April.

Lanzhou in Gansu Province surpassed Urumqi and grew the fastest at 19.5 percent, followed by Urumqi at 18.3 percent and Changchun in Jilin Province at 14.8 percent.

Shanghai's second-hand home prices grew 10.9 percent last month year on year, according to the commission.

China wants to ease soaring property prices in its cities and increase the supply of affordable housing.