Property prices in big cities declining

SHANGHAI / BEIJING - Tightening measures introduced to cool the property market are continuing to bite with 70 percent of 70 major cities surveyed reporting month-on-month price falls.

November saw 49 out of 70 cities monitored report falling prices for newly built residential properties from a month earlier, while prices in another 16 cities remained unchanged, according to figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Sunday.

This means that 15 more cities reported month-on-month price falls for new homes than in October.

Prices for new homes edged down 0.4 percent in November from the previous month both in Beijing and Shanghai. Nanjing, Jiangsu province, witnessed the largest drop with 0.7 percent.

In the secondary market, 51 cities experienced month-on-month property price falls in November, 13 more than October. Among the seven cities that reported price hikes in November on a monthly basis, only one was a coastal city, and their month-on-month price rise for second-hand homes averaged below 0.3 percent.

In year-on-year terms, four out of the 70 cities saw prices for new homes drop, two more than October. Prices for second-hand homes fell in 21 cities over the year, eight more than in October.

According to Chen Jie, executive director of Fudan University's Housing Policy Studies Center, official statistics showed a downturn or no change in property prices, a trend that is likely to continue if there is no easing of the tightening measures.

Not everyone views these price falls as an opportunity to enter the market.

Zhang Ji, who works with a multinational company in Shanghai, is cautious.