China's new home prices rose in January for the first time in a year, official data showed on Thursday, as the end of the zero-COVID regime, favourable property policies and market expectations for more stimulus measures boosted demand.
"We believe that with the strong policy support from both demand and financing side, the sales will start to rebound significantly from late Q2. Any early boom will be positive for the growth outlook," said Zhou Hao, chief economist at Guotai Junan International.
The property sector, once an engine of the world's second-largest economy, has been hobbled by fragile demand and developers' mounting debt defaults. Authorities have rolled out a flurry of aggressive stimulus measures to prop up the sector since late last year, includingand allowing eligible cities to cut or abolish the floor on mortgage rates for first-home buyers.
Sentiment has been improving, buoyed by Beijing's COVID-19 policy U-turn in December and supportive measures, but the recovery has been patchy, with private surveys showing home sales by floor area slumping around 20% from a year earlier. Official sales figures will be released in mid-February."The roots of the crisis in China's property sector lie in the worsening long-term outlook for demand," said Mark Williams, chief Asia economist at Capital Economics.
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