More Chinese cities see property prices fall

Xinhua, July 18, 2011

More Chinese cities reported lower or unchanged property prices in June, which suggests that the government's cooling measures have begun to work, data showed on Monday.

Twenty-six cities out of a statistical pool of 70 major cities saw new home prices decline or remain unchanged from a month earlier, compared to 20 cities in May, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said in a report posted on its website.

Twelve cities including Tianjin, Nanjing and Chengdu saw prices fall month-on-month. Prices in Beijing, Hangzhou and 12 other cities remained unchanged.

While the rest of the cities reported higher prices, 24 of them said that price growth slowed in June.

Housing prices have generally stabilized, but analysts have warned that the government's regulatory measures should remain in place, as some cities are still facing price hikes and other problems as they continue to build more affordable housing units.

The government has adopted various measures to cool the property market and curb rising prices, including restricting residents in major cities from buying second or third homes, requiring higher down payments for mortgages and instituting new property taxes in the cities of Chongqing and Shanghai.