China’s house-price growth accelerated in January as low inventory stoked a fear of missing out among buyers even as authorities widened curbs, reported Bloomberg.
New home prices in 70 major cities, excluding state-subsidized housing, rose 0.28% last month from December after climbing 0.12% in each of the previous two months, National Bureau of Statistics figures showed Tuesday. Values in the secondary market, which faces less government intervention, gained 0.37%, the fastest in 18 months.
Buyer enthusiasm has persisted in the face of stricter curbs imposed in some large cities last month as available housing stock continued to fall. In the four biggest cities, inventory was equivalent to just eight months of sales at the end of January, the lowest since at least 2019, according to China Real Estate Information Corp. The average housing stock in 100 cities on the firm’s radar was also lower than a year prior, reported Bloomberg.