China’s home sales extended their slump in July as declining prices failed to attract buyers, buttressing speculation about fresh measures to support the market, reports Bloomberg. The value of new-home sales by the 100 largest property companies dropped 24% from a year earlier to RMB 211.2 billion ($29.3 billion), according to preliminary data
from China Real Estate Information Corp. Sales plunged 38% from RMB 339 billion in June, Bloomberg calculations show.
China’s residential slump has dragged on for more than four years, with prices of new homes sliding the most in eight months in June. The worsening decline signals the effects of a stimulus blitz last September are wearing off, and adds to concerns of deflation in Asia’s largest economy. “The property sector is still in deep trouble,” Lu Ting, chief China economist at Nomura Holdings Inc., wrote in a recent note.
Calls for further policy support for the residential market have grown louder as the slump drags on. The Communist Party’s decision-making Politburo refrained from property stimulus measures at a meeting this week after the Chinese economy held up surprisingly well in the face of US tariffs.