China’s home prices fell at a quicker pace in May, halting green shoots seen at the start of the year that had raised hopes of a recovery.
New-home prices in 70 cities, excluding state-subsidized housing, dropped 0.2% from April when they slid 0.19%, figures from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Tuesday. Resale home values, which are subject to less government intervention, decreased 0.26%, the most in three months.
China’s property downturn has weighed on the economy for almost five years, hampering efforts by officials to spur household spending and reduce reliance on exports. While analysts at firms including Citigroup Inc. and Bank of America Corp. have begun to assert that the sector is finally stabilizing, others are doubtful.
“Starting May, China’s home market is set to undergo a three-month test as it enters a traditionally slow season for sales,” Guo Zhen, an analyst at Guangfa Securities, wrote in a report last week. “It remains to be seen whether property sales in key cities can keep their momentum.”
Wall Street Dares to Ask If China’s Property Turnaround Is CloseVeteran UBS Analyst Says AI Is Helping End China Property SlumpChina’s Banks Get Creative to Stem Spate of Underwater MortgagesThe figures showed that any signs of a housing recovery remain restricted to the largest cities, which are benefiting from the global boom in investment in artificial intelligence.
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Hangzhou, home to Jack Ma’s Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., saw the biggest gain in new-home prices among the 70 cities monitored. The area is also home to Unitree Robotics, one of the most recognizable names in the industry.
In contrast, price declines accelerated in so-called tier-two cities, which sit just below rich areas like Beijing and Shanghai. Used-home values in tier-two cities fell 0.25% in May, the biggest decline in three months.
That poses a challenge for policymakers who are trying to boost domestic demand in the world’s second-largest economy. Other figures released Tuesday showed consumer spending contracted last month for the first time since the pandemic and investment deteriorated.
Read More: China’s First Consumer Spending Drop Since Covid Imperils Growth
Analysts at firms including Citigroup, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase & Co. have begun to assert that the battered property sector is finally reaching a bottom.
UBS Group AG real estate analyst John Lam, a market veteran who spotted problems at China Evergrande Group before his peers, predicts that prices in rich cities will stabilize on the back of AI, which is lifting the fortunes of China’s biggest companies.