Economic Buzz: China Average Home Prices Rise In June

Average housing prices in 100 of China's cities continued to rise in June from a year earlier, but compared with a month earlier, prices rose at a slower rate for the third straight month, figures from private data provider China Real Estate Index System showed Monday.
Residential housing prices were up 7.40% from a year ago in June, for the seventh monthly year-on-year rise, after a 6.90% gain in May. But the on-month increase eased to 0.77% from May's 0.81%, according to the index based on a survey of developers and real-estate companies.
Still, it was the 13th consecutive on-month increase despite government efforts to keep property prices from spiraling higher.
A total of 71 of the cities covered in the index showed higher month-over-month prices, with 29 cities posting falls. In May there were 77 cities showing gains from the preceding month.
CREIS said that the average price of residential housing climbed to 10,258 yuan ($1,671) per square meter during the month.
In June, a liquidity squeeze caused some banks to tighten mortgage issuance, such as removing discounts on mortgage rates, as well as prolonging the approval process, CREIS said. "Alongside uncertainties in the growth of the broader economy and the credit crunch, many cities are increasing housing supply, which would reduce the pace of home price growth," the data provider added.
Prices in Beijing, which has been the most active in implementing a central government order to strictly enforce a 20% tax on profits of some home sales, rose 1.59%.
Source by Commodity Insights