Property price growth cools in March

Prices of newly built homes in 49 of 70 cities surveyed by the government rose month-on-month in March, down from 56 cities in February and 60 in January, Dow Jones reported. The slowdown in price rises is likely a result of further government tightening efforts in 2010, including a raft of minimum up-front payment requirements, limits on the number of new home purchases, and pilot property tax schemes in Chongqing and Shanghai. Newly built home prices rose in 67 of the 70 medium-sized cities year-on-year in March, down from 68 in February. Beijing’s home prices stayed flat in March from February, while prices in Shanghai rose 0.2%. Analysts forecast a drop in prices for April in these cities. A country-wide property tax is widely expected to be introduced later in the year.