Source: CCTV.com

01-18-2008 10:44

Average property prices in China's cities were growing slightly lower in December than in November, according to the National Development and Reform Commission on Thursday. People are expecting a turning point in the market, which used to show signs of overheating in early 2007.

Average property prices in China''s cities were growing slightly lower in December than in November.(Photo:eastday.com)

According to the NDRC, average property prices in 70 large and medium-sized Chinese cities in December were up 10.5 percent year-on-year. That growth rate was slightly lower than the November level.

Also, in the first few weeks of this year, housing transactions in major cities have been shrinking. Beijing, Wuhan and Chongqing saw their housing transactions in the first week of the year decrease by more than 20 percent from the previous week. Housing transactions in the booming southern city of Shenzhen fell by about 40 percent. And sales in Nanjing, the capital of East China's Jiangsu Province, plummeted by more than 50 percent.

Gu Yunchang, Deputy Director of China Real Estate & Housing Research Center said "Personally, I don't think housing prices across the country will experience a 'turning point' to actually drop. But it seems very possible that the property rally will slow and prices will stabilize."

Real estate developers believe that housing prices will be further restrained in 2008 and 2009, as the government offers more affordable housing to low- and middle-income residents.

China's housing prices have soared over the past few years. The government has taken a series of measures, including more stringent land control and housing mortgage policies, to curb speculation in the property sector.

Editor:Xiong Qu