Key facts
- New home prices in China fell 0.2% month-on-month in May.
China's new home prices declined at a faster pace in May, dropping 0.2% from April, according to official data. This marks a steeper fall than the 0.1% decrease in April, underscoring the ongoing property sector slump despite some stabilization signs in larger cities.

The continued decline in new home prices highlights the persistent challenges within China's property sector, a significant contributor to the nation's economy. This slump impacts household wealth, consumption, and overall economic growth, despite some stabilization in major urban centers.
China's new home prices fell at a slightly faster pace in May, official data showed, as the crisis-hit property sector continued to grapple with fragile demand. New home prices dipped 0.2% in May from the previous month, steepening from a 0.1% decline in April, according to Reuters calculations based on National Bureau of Statistics data. On an annual basis, prices in May fell 3.5%, matching the decline in April. The price falls dampened hopes that the real estate sector, which accounted for around a quarter of the economy at its peak, is close to bottoming out after a nearly five-year slump. The slump has not only crippled some of China's biggest property firms but also turned a once key economic growth driver into a drag and weighed on overall household appetite for consumption. However, prices in the country's largest cities rose 0.2% in May after a 0.1% gain in April, with Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou posting increases. Prices in smaller tier-three cities extended their declines in May. Property sales, investment, new construction and funds raised by developers all fell more sharply in January-May, official data showed. Zhang Dawei, analyst at Centaline Property, said that the period of steep home price declines across China had passed and the market was not at risk of a rapid downturn. He added that the property market would continue to be characterised by "resilience in tier-one cities, divergence in tier-two cities and pressure in tier-three cities".