China Housing Sales Momentum Picks Up Pace in May

China's housing-sales momentum picked up pace in May from a month earlier despite a recent raft of tougher property restrictions.

In May alone, housing sales by value rose 12.6% from a year earlier, according to calculations made by The Wall Street Journal based on data released Wednesday by the National Bureau of Statistics. That compared with a 10.1% gain in April.

For the January-May period, housing sales rose 15.3% from a year earlier, compared with a 16.1% gain from January through April.

Developers, meanwhile, reined in spending on new projects.

Property investment, including commercial and residential real estate, slowed to an 8.8% expansion during the first five months of the year from a year earlier. Investment grew 9.1% during the January through April period.

The pace of construction starts also slowed, rising 9.5% year-over-year from January through May. That compares with 11.1% growth for the first four months of the year.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 13, 2017 22:45 ET (02:45 GMT)