BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s July new home prices fell for the first time this year, official data showed on Wednesday, as piecemeal policy support failed to shore up the embattled property sector, heaping pressure on authorities to introduce bolder stimulus.
The 0.2% fall month-on-month came after June’s flat reading, according to Reuters calculations based on National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data. Prices were down 0.1% from a year earlier, after a flat result in June.
China’s property sector, which accounts for a quarter of its economic activity, is far from turning the corner, despite an extension of financial support for developers and incentives for first-time home buyers and upgraders.
The Politburo, a top decision-making body of the ruling Communist Party, in July vowed to adjust property policies in response to significant market changes.
(Reporting by Qiaoyi Li, Liangping Gao and Ryan Woo; Editing by Sam Holmes)
