China's August Property Prices Rise 5.3%

Source : The Business Times, September 16, 2008

BEIJING - China's urban property prices in August rose 5.3 per cent from a year earlier, down from a rise of 7.0 per cent in July, extending a trend of sagging property inflation that began early this year.

Average property prices across 70 large- and medium-sized cities dropped 0.1 per cent in August compared with July, the National Development and Reform Commission said on its website on Tuesday.

It compiles the figures together with the National Bureau of Statistics.

Price rises in some cities remain steep, while a couple top cities showed declines.

Average housing prices in Beijing in August were still 8.9 per cent higher than a year earlier. The annual property price rise in Hefei, capital of the Anhui province, was even higher, at 9.7 per cent.

Prices grew the fastest in Haikou, capital of China's most southern province, at an annual pace of 11.4 per cent.

The southern cities of Shenzhen and Guangzhou were the only cities to experience price declines, of 6.4 per cent and 1.8 per cent, respectively. -- REUTERS