After several months of rapid expansion the rate of growth in China’s home sales fell in May, compared to April, with the increase over 2015 dropping from 61.4 percent for the period from January to April, down to 53.4 percent through the end of May.
The total value of new housing sales amounted to RMB 3.18 trillion ($482 billion) in the first five months of this year according to new figures from China’s National Bureau of Statistics. Since January of this year the domestic market has staged a recovery, seeing sales of buildings across all property types jump 33.2 percent year-over-year.
Floor space of newly constructed homes sold stood at 595.2 million square meters, reflecting an 18.3 percent rise but growth also moderated from a 21.4 percent increase in the first four months of this year.
With real estate accounting for more than 15 percent of China’s GDP, the government has been working hard to ensure continued investment in the sector, but investor enthusiasm showed signs of cooling in the most recent month. The growth in real estate investment for the year through the end of May totalled 7.0 percent, down from 7.2 percent through the end of April.
The statistics bureau will release its figures on China’s home prices this coming weekend, with many analysts watching the indicator for ideas on future policy. After last month’s home price survey revealed higher average monthly house prices in 65 out of 70 cities covered, many observers expect the government to institute targeted tightening measures in cities with the fastest growth while remaining accommodative in areas with large unsold inventory.
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