China's home price decline narrows month on month in October

BEIJING, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- The decline in the prices of commercial residential homes in China's 70 large and medium-sized cities generally moderated on a month-on-month basis in October, official data showed on Friday.

In the country's first-tier cities, namely Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, new home prices edged down by 0.2 percent, narrowing from a 0.5-percent drop in the previous month, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Prices of second-hand homes in first-tier cities rose 0.4 percent in October, reversing a 1.2 percent decline in the previous month and marking the first increase in 13 months.

Second- and third-tier cities registered narrower drops in both new and second-hand home prices in October, the NBS said.

"Property market expectations further improved in October as home prices in Chinese cities either rose or declined at a slower pace month and month," said NBS statistician Wang Zhonghua.