Prices of homes fell in China for a fourth straight month as the Chinese government repeated its determination to keep property restrictions in place.
Bloomberg reported that, even as Beijing is loosening other policies designed to keep it from a so-called hard landing as its economy slows, real estate is the last place it is likely to lift curbs. According to SouFun, the country's largest real estate website owner, residential properties dropped in price by 0.25% in December from November.
All of China's 10 largest cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, the nation's financial center, saw prices fall, as did 60 out of 100 cities that the company tracks. Not just the country's government, but also a number of cities have restrictions in place on home purchases.
Peter Bai Hongwei, a Beijing-based property analyst at China International Capital Corp., the country's biggest investment bank, was quoted saying, "Home prices extended the downward falling tendency, but didn't fall aggressively, because many developers have already achieved sales targets. Property is likely to be the last sector that the government will relax policies this year."
