People view the sandbox model of a real estate project in Taiyuan, North China’s Shanxi Province, on June 17, 2024. Photo: VCG

China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said on Friday that property market expectations further improved in October, as home price decline in major 70 cities narrows on a monthly basis while some regions are reporting an increase in prices.

The improvement comes after China introduced a slew of measures to stabilize the property sector.

The monthly report released by the NBS on Friday shows that the month-on-month decline in sales prices across various-tier cities has generally narrowed, with second-hand residential prices in first-tier cities experiencing a rise for the first time in nearly 13 months.

On a monthly basis, in October, the sales prices of newly built commercial residential properties in first-tier cities decreased by 0.2 percent, a reduction of 0.3 percentage points compared to the previous month. Specifically, Shanghai in East China and Shenzhen in South China’s Guangdong Province saw monthly increases of 0.3 percent and 0.1 percent respectively. 

The month-on-month sales prices of second-hand residential properties in first-tier cities shifted to an increase of 0.4 percent from a decline of 1.2 percent in the previous month.

Year-on-year, the sales prices of newly built commercial residential properties in first-tier cities fell by 4.6 percent in October, a slight narrowing of 0.1 percentage points from the previous month. Shanghai experienced a rise of 5.0 percent.

In October, the housing price index showed a significant improvement in month-on-month indicators, with a noticeable narrowing of the decline. Based on recent signals of stabilization in the real estate market and overall market performance, the turning point for home prices has arrived, Yan Yuejin, vice-president of the Shanghai-based E-House China Real Estate Research Institute, told the Global Times on Friday.

Yan said the improvement in home prices is comprehensive and multifaceted. Major first-tier cities are expected to play a crucial role in this recovery.

A survey on property industry professionals indicates an improvement in market expectations, the NBS said. The proportion of respondents anticipating stable or rising prices for newly built and second-hand residential properties over the next six months increased to 75.9 percent and 60.4 percent, up by 17.6 and 15.0 percentage points from the previous month.

Fu Linghui, a spokesperson for the NBS, said on Friday that as relevant policies take effect, confidence in the real estate market has been boosted, leading to increased market transactions and a move toward stabilization in the real estate sector. 

“Overall, we maintain an optimistic outlook on the future trends of the real estate market,” Fu said.