NEW home purchases in China surged at a faster pace in the first nine months of this year amid robust sentiment in September, according to data released yesterday by the National Bureau of Statistics.
During the first three quarters, 930.5 million square meters of new houses were sold, up 27.1 percent from the same period a year earlier. The pace also quickened from the 25.6 percent gain recorded in the January-August period, according to the bureau.
In September alone, more than 155 million square meters of new homes were sold in China, an annual increase of 35 percent and also a monthly record, Centaline research showed. By value, new homes worth 1.15 trillion yuan were sold last month, a year-on-year surge of 61 percent.
However, the overall market will very likely slow in the last quarter of this year after signs of a cooling emerged in some cities even before they unveiled further measures to curb housing speculation starting late September, Centaline predicted.
Nearly half of the 20 cities which have unveiled new rein-in policies from home buying curbs to higher down payment requirement around the National Day holiday period registered a monthly decline in transactions last month. This drop indicated weakening home-buying sentiment following strong sales in the previous few months.
In Beijing, the area of new Beijing apartments sold tumbled over 44 percent last month from August to 1.03 million square meters, the lowest figure since June, Beijing Uwin Real Estate Information Services Co said.
