Home prices rise slower in April

New home prices in China's major cities rose at a slower pace in April as the government's recent tightening measures started to take effect, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Saturday.

"The trend of surging property prices across the country has been curbed in April as the growth rate in quite a number of cities has slowed down," said Liu Jianwei, a senior statistician with the bureau.

"However, the fundamental reason for the rising property price hasn't been addressed yet, and implementation of tightening policies has to be strengthened in the market," Liu said.

The highest growth rate was capped at 2.1 percent in Guangzhou. In March, the highest growth rate was 3.2 percent in Shanghai.

Of the 70 cities monitored by the NBS, 67 saw new home prices rise month-on-month in April, compared with 68 in the previous month. But, 36 cities registered slower month-on-month price rises in April.

The central government said on March 1 that it planned to introduce a 20 percent capital gains tax and higher down payments and mortgage rates for second-home buyers in cities where prices are deemed to be rising too fast. And major cities unveiled detailed regulations by the end of March.

But some analysts said the growth rate of property sales this year will be very similar to 2012, despite the government's latest round of policy tightening.

China's average home price may rise 3 to 8 percent this year, with the sale volume climbing 5.6 percent, research from CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets showed.

"Though the average home price across the country will increase by 3 to 8 percent in 2013, the price hike in key cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou could hit 20 percent," said Nicole Wong, regional head of property research at CLSA.