Beijing home sales grow 50% in first 11 months

BEIJING - Sales of residential apartments in Beijing have grown more than 50 percent in the January-November period, a sign of the market warming up despite government controls, official data has indicated.

According to a survey jointly conducted by the Beijing Bureau of Statistics and the National Bureau of Statistics, more than 11.79 million sq meters of residential housing were sold in Beijing in the first 11 months of 2012, up 52.7 percent year-on-year.

The figure does not cover subsidized housing, which is offered to low-income families to help them buffer the impact of high-flying home prices.

Property investment, which includes both residential and office housing, topped 290 billion yuan ($46.4 billion) in the Chinese capital from January to November, the survey shows.

Beijing is one of the pioneer cities in China to have imposed a raft of measures aiming to rein in housing prices since April 2010.

The government has since repeatedly reiterated its firm stance on property market control and vowed to keep in place measures such as higher down payments, bans on third-home purchases and property tax trials.

Despite the restrictive measures and this year's grim economic conditions, the overall property market is showing signs of recovery. The pick-up came after the central bank twice cut interest rates, as well as easing banks' reserve requirements earlier this year, industry observers noted.

New home prices in major cities have risen month-on-month for six straight months since June, according to a report released recently by the China Index Academy.

New home prices in 10 first-tier cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, climbed 0.39 percent in November from October, marking a year-on-year rise for the first time in 2012, the academy's research indicated.