Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, August 15th Title: House price growth is generally stable and the effects of regulatory measures are apparent

Statistics show that the year-on-year sales price increases of newly built commercial housing and second-hand housing in first-, second- and third-tier cities have fallen back to varying degrees or are the same as last month, and the sales price growth of commercial housing has been generally stable. Experts believe that all localities adhere to the positioning of "housing for living, not speculation", and "stability" is still the main tone of the current real estate market.

In July, the year-on-year increase in housing prices in large and medium-sized cities was generally slowing down: the year-on-year increase in the sales price of newly built commercial housing in first-, second- and third-tier cities all fell back from the previous month; the year-on-year increase in second-hand housing sales prices in second- and third-tier cities fell for three consecutive months, and the sales price of second-hand housing in first-tier cities only increased slightly by 0.2% year-on-year, with the same increase as last month.

Yan Yuejin, Research Director of the E-House Research Institute Think Tank Center, believes that the overall decline in year-on-year growth shows that the effects of real estate control measures have appeared in recent times, and the trend of year-on-year growth has been curbed.

Judging from the month-on-month data that better reflects short-term changes in prices, in July, the sales prices of new commercial housing and second-hand housing in first- and second-tier cities increased slightly from the previous month; the increases in third-tier cities were the same as last month.

In July, the sales price of second-hand housing in four first-tier cities increased by 0.3% month-on-month, with Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen rising by 0.4%, 0.4% and 0.7% respectively, and Beijing falling by 0.3%.

A salesperson from a real estate agency in Fengtai District, Beijing, told reporters that the price of second-hand houses in the area has been generally stable since this year. Although there was an "Indian Summer" at the beginning of the year, with transaction prices and transaction volumes rising, the market has cooled down since summer, and the fluctuations have not been significant in recent months.

In addition, the sales price of newly built commercial housing in 31 second-tier cities increased by 0.7% month-on-month, with the increase falling by 0.1 percentage point from the previous month. The sales price of newly built commercial housing in 35 third-tier cities increased by 0.7% month-on-month, the same increase as last month.

Zhang Bo, chief analyst of 58 Anjuke Real Estate Research Institute, believes that the sales price changes of commercial housing in 70 large and medium-sized cities in July showed a trend of "urban differentiation and stable expectations."

"In July, various regions continued to implement the deployment of the Party Central Committee and the State Council, always adhering to the positioning of 'houses are for living in, not for speculation', with the goal of stabilizing land prices, stabilizing housing prices, and stabilizing expectations, and further implemented the long-term mechanism for real estate regulation. The overall real estate market continued to be stable." said Liu Jianwei, senior statistician of the Urban Department of the National Bureau of Statistics.

This is also a continuation of the stable trend of my country’s real estate market. Since the beginning of this year, various departments have made timely adjustments according to market changes, and various regulatory measures have been intensively introduced: the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development has issued early warnings to cities with large housing price increases, real estate financing has been tightened across the board, and some places are also making detailed adjustments to land transfer policies.

In the view of Ding Zuyu, CEO of E-House Enterprise Group, since the beginning of this year, the real estate market trend has "first increased and then declined", and the market trend has also clearly differentiated. The transaction volume in first- and second-tier cities has rebounded, while the market in third- and fourth-tier cities has cooled down. Since the second quarter, transaction volume in some hot cities has begun to correct, and the market as a whole has entered a stable period.

"Stability" is still the main tone of the current real estate market. The recently held meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee proposed that "real estate should not be used as a short-term means of stimulating the economy," sending a clear signal that real estate regulation will remain unwavering.

Wang Wei, director of the Market Economics Research Institute of the Development Research Center of the State Council, believes that local governments need to maintain the continuity and stability of real estate policies, and implement a long-term real estate regulation mechanism of one city, one policy, and city-specific policies based on population migration, market supply and demand, etc., to ensure the long-term healthy and stable operation of the real estate market.

The latest data shows that from January to July this year, national real estate development investment increased by 10.6% year-on-year, and the growth rate dropped 0.3 percentage points from the first half of the year.

“Based on data such as land transaction area and real estate sales, real estate investment currently remains stable.” National Bureau of Statistics spokesperson Liu Aihua analyzed that based on observations of housing prices in recent months, expectations are relatively stable. Taken together, the real estate market has the foundation to maintain stable and healthy development.