Property market supports weaken

Hardships are mounting in China's property market. Over the first four months of this year, residential home sales were reportedly down 8.6 percent year-on-year in terms of floor area, while sales revenues declined some 9.9 percent. Due to supply saturations, housing prices in third- and fourth-tier cities are starting to weaken. First-tier cities are feeling the pain as well, with real estate transaction volumes for the year-to-date down sharply in Shanghai and Beijing.

Such outcomes are not surprising considering that two of the three forces which have long been driving growth in China's housing market are now running out of steam. First, administrative efforts to support the economy with excessive levels of liquidity look to be at an end. Second, with China's economy slowing since 2012, investment in the property market is decelerating as well. Even the last growth pillar - the country's so-called "rigid demand" for urban housing - is looking increasingly shaky now that the average living area for Chinese city dwellers has climbed to a relatively spacious 40 square meters.