Momentum of China Home Price Gains Slows in July

The momentum of home-price growth in China continued to decelerate in what economists see as a gradual property market slowdown over the next year.

The average price of new homes in 70 cities rose 0.5% in July from June, excluding government-subsidized housing, according to calculations from The Wall Street Journal based on data released Friday by the National Bureau of Statistics. That compares with a 0.7% on-month gain in June.

Compared with the same period a year ago, average new home prices rose 9.3% in July, after a 9.6% increase in June.

Smaller cities were bright spots of growth for home prices and sustained vibrancy there could help prevent a sharp contraction in the broader property market.

The southern port city of Beihai had the largest home price increase of 1.5% in July from June, followed by Nanning's 1.3% gain.

In larger cities however, families are less likely to buy amid tougher credit lending and home-purchase restrictions.

Home prices in large cities were about flat month-on-month. Guangzhou continued to lead the four so-called first-tier cities with a 0.4% gain, while prices were about steady or fell in Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing.

New home prices rose in 56 of 70 cities in July from a month earlier, compared with 60 cities in June. Prices of new homes increased in 70 cities in July from a year earlier, compared with 70 in June.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 17, 2017 22:36 ET (02:36 GMT)