China home sales fall 30.3% year-on-year between January and August

China’s home sales fell 30.3% year-on-year between January and August, according to data from the country’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The result showed a slight improvement in relation to the fall of 31.4% observed from January to July.

The construction started — considering both residences and commercial properties — dropped 37.2% in the first eight months of the year compared to the same period in 2021. Between January and July, the reduction had been smaller, of 36.1%.

Investments in the development of real estate projects suffered an annual contraction of 7.4% from January to August, deepening the 6.4% decline seen in the first seven months of the year.

Average price

The average price of new homes in China’s 70 largest cities fell by 2.10% in August compared with the same month a year ago, according to calculations by the The Wall Street Journal based on data also released by the NBS. This is the biggest reduction in more than six years.

In July, the price had suffered an annual decline of 1.67%.

On a monthly basis, the average price of new Chinese homes dropped for the 12th consecutive month in August, down 0.29%, larger than the 0.11% contraction seen in July.