Home prices in more Chinese cities declined month-on-month last month as the government beefed up its efforts to cool the market, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Monday.
12 cities reported month-on-month price declines of new commercial homes out of the NBS' statistical pool of 70 major Chinese cities, compared with eight in February.
Home prices stood unchanged in 8 cities, while 29 cities posted smaller monthly price gains.
As for resold housing units, 16 cities reported second-hand home price declines month on month in March, up from four in February. Home prices stayed unchanged in 10 major cities in March from February, according to the NBS.
In Beijing, new home prices rose 4.9 percent in March year-on-year, on a down trajectory from an annual increase of 6.8 percent in February, and the prices remained unchanged compared with last month by a month-on-month measure.
In Shanghai, the prices were up 1.7 percent year-on-year in March, compared with a rise of 2.3 percent last month. Measured by month-on-month figures, the prices rose 0.2 percent compared with February.
Property developers suffered from a slipping sales in China's major cities last month, due to government's tightening measures such as restrictions on second-home buying in some cities and a trial real-estate tax in Shanghai and Chongqing.
Changes of new home prices of Major Chinese cities
Cities
Prices of new homes
month-on-month comparison
year-on-year comparison
Beijing
100
104.9
Tianjin
100.5
106.6
Shijianzhuang
100.9
111.5
Taiyuan
100.3
101.6
Huhho
100.3
106.4
Shenyang
100.5
107.7
Dalian
100.6
106.3
Changchun
100.7
106.7
Harbing
100.5
106.8
Shanghai
100.2
101.7
Nanjing
100.5
101.5
Hangzhou
99.9
101.4
Ningbo
99.4
103.2
Hefei
100
103.4
Fuzhou
100.3
104.7
Xiamen
100.3
106.6
Nanchang
100
108.6
Jinan
100.5
106.1
Qingdao
100.4
104.4
Zhengzhou
99.8
106.7
Wuhan
100.4
105.5
Changsha
100.5
108.1
Guangzhou
100.3
102.7
Shenzhen
100
103.1
Nanning
100.8
102.2
Haikou
99.9
100.6
Chongqing
100.6
105.6
Chengdu
100
104.4
The NBS stopped releasing overall housing prices for 70 major cities in January of this year, citing the fact that overall price figures for these cities failed to reflect regional differences. The NBS is also using a new surveying method to determine price changes.
