New-home prices increase 1% in January

New-home prices in China rose 1 percent in January, the eighth straight month-on-month increase since June.

The average new-home price in 100 Chinese cities increased to 9,812 yuan ($1,577) per square meter, according to the China Index Academy, a research institute under SouFun Holdings Ltd, the country's biggest real estate website owner.

"The 1 percent rise is alarming because previous month-on-month growths were no more than 0.5 percent," said Yin Zhongli, a researcher with the Institute of Finance and Banking under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Month-on-month price growth in December was 0.23 percent and in November was 0.26 percent. A total of 64 cities out of 100 monitored saw month-on-month price growth.

Prices in 10 major cities rose to 16,417 yuan per sq m, a 1.61 percent gain over the previous month. Shanghai saw the largest price gain among the 10 cities of 2.3 percent, while Beijing saw a 2.27 percent rise.

Yin said price rises in major cities were due to developers' rapidly diminishing inventory. Since November, Beijing's new-home stocks had been unable to support eight months' worth of sales, he said.

Last year, China's land supply hit a record low as the property-tightening policy entered its third year. The limited supply curbed developers' land reserves, overshadowing their ability to provide new homes.

But recent signs suggest local governments are stepping up land supply as their land revenue declines.

In Beijing, 22 parcels of land were sold last month, raising 24.17 billion yuan ($3.84 billion) for the local government. In December, land revenue was 2.19 billion yuan.

New-home price rises have also warmed up the secondhand market, with Beijing's average secondhand home price rising 2.22 percent to 35,399 yuan per sq m, the highest among the 10 major cities.

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