Property price growth grinds to a halt in January

House prices in China in January posted their poorest results in at least a year, with none of the 70 cities surveyed by officials recording gains, Bloomberg reported. Property prices in 47 of the cities declined, while the rest remained at their December levels. January marked the first time that none of the cities polled by the government have posted gains since Beijing changed its real estate metric in early 2011 to release prices for 70 cities, rather than a national average. Chinese officials have been clamping down on property price growth for the better part of two years through a series of restrictions on second- and third-home purchases, and higher down-payments and mortgage rates, among other measures. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao reiterated the government’s commitment to maintaining property restrictions on February 12. “The data wasn’t a surprise as the government maintained its property policies, and home prices will continue to fall till at least the later half of the year,” said Ting Lu, an economist at Bank of America.