China's home prices pick up

China's new home prices rose in April with an increasing number of smaller cities driving broader growth, helped by state measures that allowed buyers to get around existing restrictions and economic development prospects in those centres. New home prices in China's 70 major cities rose 0.5 percent in April from the previous month, up from a 0.4 percent rise in March, Reuters calculated from National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data published on Wednesday.
On an annual basis, home prices increased 4.7 percent in April, slowing from a 4.9 percent gain in March. Fifty-eight cities of the total 70 cities surveyed by the NBS reported higher prices in April, up from 55 cities in March, suggesting broader market strength despite persistent curbs to contain the still hot market.
The data signals an increasing differentiation between urban property markets across the country, analysts say, with China's city-based policy fine-tuning has allowed some easing of restrictions in smaller centres. "This perfectly illustrates the kind of mentality still prevalent in Chinese property market," said Yan Yuejin, research director at Shanghai-based E-house China R&D Institute. "Many buyers are looking to buy in cities that are still cheap, with lax policies and have come up with some kind of development concept, especially as opportunities are limited now in bigger cities."
New policies that allow college graduates to bypass purchase restrictions in provincial capitals have stoked investment, said Zhang Dawei, an analyst with Hong Kong-based Centaline, a real estate research consultancy. Price growth in China's second tier cities, which include most of the larger provincial capitals, and smaller third tier cities accelerated 0.1 percentage points and 0.2 percentage points, respectively, in April, the statistics bureau said. It did not give the actual rates of growth.
Analysts also point to political and economic developments that have drawn new investors into markets away from the bigger centres. The Chinese city of Dandong, which lies on the border with North Korea, became the top price performer in April, rising a robust 2 percent, NBS data showed.