2nd LD-Writethru: China's home prices continue to stabilize in April

BEIJING, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Commercial home prices in major Chinese cities continued to stabilize in April, official data showed on Monday.

A survey by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed home prices in 70 major cities stayed flat or dipped in April compared with the previous month. The prices continued to fall on a yearly basis, but the pace of decline further eased.

The real estate market remained broadly stable last month, though with variations across different cities, NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui told a press conference.

New home prices in first-tier cities, namely Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, fell 2.1 percent year on year in April, compared with a decline of 2.8 percent registered in March.

New home prices in these cities remained flat compared with the previous month, while second-hand home prices edged down 0.2 percent from March, according to the NBS data.

Home prices in other major cities monitored by the NBS also posted narrowed price declines compared with one year earlier.

The NBS data also revealed a narrowing in the year-on-year decline in the volume of new home sales during the January-April period, compared with the first quarter of the year.

Monday's data added to evidence that the property sector continued to stabilize, lifted by the government's policies unveiled over the past few months to support developers and improve market sentiment.

Since the fourth quarter of last year, the central government has stepped up efforts to halt the downturn of the real estate market.

An integrated policy package has been rolled out to boost investment, accelerate the renovation of old urban neighborhoods, expand the supply of affordable housing, and implement a "white list" mechanism to direct financial support to qualified developers.

Fu said these policies had helped stabilize the real estate market, but stressed that more efforts were needed to ensure the stable and healthy development of the market as adjustments continue.

He noted that the authorities will strive to strengthen policy coordination, increase the supply of "quality homes," and push forward urban renewal projects and the construction of affordable housing.

For the first time, the phrase "quality homes" appeared in China's government work report this year. The report, published in March, called for efforts to "improve the standards and regulations on building quality homes that are safe, comfortable, eco-friendly, and smart." Enditem