China's new home prices rise in February thanks to surging big-city prices

Average new home prices in China rose 3.6% year on year in February, accelerating from January’s rise of 2.5% thanks to a surge in property prices in first-tier cities, Reuters reported. “The government’s all-out encouragement of housing sales seems to be working, but at the cost of surging prices in big cities,” said Rosealea Yao, an economist at research firm Gavekal Dragonomics. Prices in Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing surged 56.9%, 20.6% and 12.9%, respectively as prices in most third-tier cities saw annualized prices drop in February, though declines did ease from January. For more on China’s divergent property markets, see CER’s in-depth report.