Major Chinese cities report narrowed home price declines in September

BEIJING, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Major Chinese cities continued to report narrowed year-on-year declines in overall home prices in September, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Monday.

In the first-tier cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, new home prices fell 0.5 percent year on year, 0.4 percentage points narrower than the previous month, while the decline in second-hand home prices narrowed from 2.7 percent to 1.5 percent in September.

As to second- and third-tier cities, price declines in both new and second-hand homes moderated compared with August.

On a monthly basis, home prices in first-tier cities rose in September, while second- and third-tier cities generally registered narrowed declines.

Among 70 large and medium-sized cities tracked, 17 recorded rising new home prices month on month in September, two more than the previous month. Nine cities saw rising second-hand home prices, six more than August.

The NBS releases a monthly home price report tracking market changes in 70 major cities, including four first-tier cities, 31 second-tier cities and 35 third-tier cities.