BEIJING: China's new home prices fell for the fourth month in October, official data showed on Thursday, as government support measures did little to lift the gloom hanging over the country's consumers and its debt-laden property sector.
New home prices fell 0.3 per cent month-on-month after a 0.2 per cent dip in September, according to Reuters calculations based on National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data.
Compared with a year earlier, prices were down 0.1 per cent, matching a decline in September, August and July.
Authorities have rolled out a slew of measures to prop up the troubled property sector – which once accounted for about a quarter of China's economic activity – including relaxing curbs on home purchases and cutting borrowing costs.
But potential home buyers remain cautious as more developers struggle to pay their bills and complete presold housing projects. Property sales by floor area fell 20.33 per cent year-on-year in October, according to Reuters calculations. - Reuters
