Cranes are seen at a construction site of a housing complex in Beijing on Thursday. Photo: VCG

Prices of commercial housing and second-hand homes in most of China’s 70 large and medium-sized cities continued to fall in October compared with September, and the price in all-tier cities for both housing types kept declining year-on-year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Monday. 

The prices still remained generally stable, however, as prices in about 80 percent of the cities fell by no more than 0.5 percent, so the rate of decline was relatively small, yicai.com reported on Monday, citing an industry insider. 

Analysts said that the domestic real estate market has seen a turning point, but the easing of relevant policies will have a positive impact on boosting trade, and the market is expected to stabilize in 2022 as the mortgage situation gradually eases. 

The sales prices of newly built homes in first-tier cities remained flat month-on-month, with the prices in Beijing and Shanghai increasing 0.6 percent and 0.1 percent respectively, whereas the prices in Guangzhou and Shenzhen dropped 0.3 percent and 0.2 percent. New homes in second- and third-tier cities dropped 0.2 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively. 

Prices of second-hand housing in first-tier cities fell 0.4 percent in October month-on-month, the same as September, with Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen seeing drops of 0.5 percent, 0.4 percent, 0.6 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively. The sales prices for second- and third-tier cities both dropped 0.3 percent. 

Relevant authorities across China have implemented measures to further avoid a precipitous drop in home prices. Around 21 cities have published notices to prevent house prices from falling too far, with some cities initiating talks with property developers to prevent them from undercutting the market, according to a report from yicai.com. 

The credit policy has been gradually eased and such policies will have a positive impact on market transactions, Yan Yuejin, research director at Shanghai-based E-house China R&D Institute, told the Global Times on Monday, adding that the easing of other policies will still take time and needs consideration. 

Zhang Dawei, chief analyst with real estate agency Centaline Property, said that the housing prices will keep on a downward trajectory for the rest of 2021. But as mortgages are the biggest factor affecting the real estate market, the policy easing should help the market to stabilize in the first quarter of 2022.