New home prices' slide continues six-month streak in China

Average prices for new homes in 70 cities in mainland China fell 5.7% in February, the sixth consecutive month of declines, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing calculations based on data released by the National Bureau of Statistics. Persistent weakness in housing sales in third and fourth-tier cities, which account for around two-thirds of China’s real estate market, showed little sign of letting up as demand remained sluggish thanks to the lunisolar new year holiday and fears among potential buyers of more price cuts. Rosealea Yao, analyst at Gavekal Dragonomics, said she expected Beijing to ease more policies, including lower down-payment requirements, and make further cuts to interest rates or banks’ reserve requirements.