China new home prices, sales fall on soft demand in May

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's new home prices fell for the first time in four months in May and home sales slumped, according to a private survey, adding to pressure on a property market which is struggling to stabilize from a sharp slump.

New home prices among 100 cities fell 0.01% month-on-month in May from 0.02% growth the previous month, according to survey data from the China Index Academy on Thursday.

Home sales by value by property developers fell 18.8% from a month earlier, the independent real estate research firm said in a separate statement on Wednesday.

"The real estate market was under greater adjustment pressure and homebuyers' sentiment continued to fall in May," said the firm.

The property sector gained a boost from the lifting of tough COVID curbs in December, low mortgage interest rates and a slew of policy support measures.

Demand, however, remains bleak in small cities as consumers are still cautious about big ticket spending amid concerns over incomes and jobs as a post-pandemic economic recovery loses steam.

Among 100 cities surveyed by the firm, 29 cities reported a rise in home prices in monthly terms.

"We see no sign of a new round of big easing/stimulus for the property sector yet, even markets have been increasingly worried about the weakness of the property markets and its spillover effect," said Nomura in a research note on Thursday.

"These (bearish) property market data will likely further weigh on China-related assets in the next couple of weeks," said Nomura.

(Reporting by Liangping Gao and Ryan Woo; Editing by Kim Coghill)

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