China: All-out effort to prop up housing market

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ITTO
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The Chinese National Bureau of Statistics latest survey of house price trends points to a steady decline in most of the major cities.

In the 70 medium and large-sized cities included in the survey new home prices declined in 68 cities, remained unchanged in one and rose in only one.

A similar trend was reported for second hand homes where prices fell in 95% of the total cities surveyed.

The real estate sector in China accounts for over 12% of GDP and the health of this sector has a huge impact on a wide range of industries from furniture to concrete manufacturers such that a depressed housing market is a drag on the overall economy.

In a quick turn-around from trying to cool the housing market, today efforts are being ploughed into encouraging buyers with loans being offered even to those wishing to purchase a second property. The thrust of this development is being led by regional governments as they fear the impact on local employment of a housing slump.

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