China 2017 Housing Sales Up 11.3% From a Year Earlier

China's housing sales growth accelerated in December, with pockets of strength around the country even as volume dried up in the megacities.

Housing sales by value in December rose 21.2% from a year earlier, according to calculations made by The Wall Street Journal based on National Bureau of Statistics data released Thursday. That compared with a 12.4% gain in November.

For the full 2017, housing sales by value rose 11.3% from the year before, compared with 9.9% growth for the January through November period.

Property investment, including in commercial and residential real estate, rose 7% in 2017 from a year earlier to 11 trillion yuan ($1.7 trillion), compared with a 7.5% increase during the first 11 months of the year.

Construction starts increased 7% in 2017 from a year earlier at 1.8 billion square meters. That compared with 6.9% growth in the year through November.

Write to Dominique Fong at dominique.fong@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 18, 2018 02:46 ET (07:46 GMT)