Housing market enjoys upswing

A view of a property project under construction in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province. (LONG WEI/FOR CHINA DAILY)

In October, the total transaction volume of China's new and secondhand homes experienced their first increase after an eight-month decline, said the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development on Friday.

The nationwide sales volume of new homes rose 0.9 percent year-on-year in October, according to the ministry's data.

The increase marks the first positive growth in the new housing sector after 15 consecutive months of declines since June of last year.

In addition, the transaction volume for second-hand homes grew by 8.9 percent year-on-year, extending its growth streak to seven months.

Overall, the combined transaction volumes of new and secondhand homes increased by 3.9 percent year-on-year in October, marking a significant turnaround following eight months of consistent decreases since February, the ministry said.

The real estate market in major cities may experience a "mild winter" this year and transaction volumes are expected to maintain a high momentum, with home prices holding steady under the influence of recent policy adjustments, said Zhang Dawei, chief analyst at Centaline Property, in an interview.

Data from the ministry also showed that in October, the growth in housing sales has extended beyond first-tier cities, indicating a broader market recovery across regions nationwide.

In first-tier cities, new home sales volumes rose by 14.1 percent year-on-year, while second-hand home transactions surged by 47.3 percent year-on-year in October.

Cities including Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Dongguan in Guangdong province, Nanjing in Jiangsu province, Ningbo in Zhejiang province, and Dalian in Liaoning province have seen strong growth in new home sales, up over 30 percent year-on-year, while second-hand home transactions in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hangzhou increased by more than 50 percent.

At the regional level, 11 provincial-level regions reported year-on-year growth in new home sales in October, an increase from five provinces in the previous month. Tianjin Municipality, Guangdong, Jiangxi, Hunan and Jiangsu provinces led with growth rates of above 10 percent. Additionally, 20 provincial-level regions saw increases in second-hand housing sales, a rise of two in quantity from September.

As the central government's recent key policies have demonstrated a rather proactive and positive stance as well as a strong commitment to stabilizing the economy and halting the decline in the real estate sector, more local-level supportive policies are also expected to be implemented in the near future, said Guorong Securities' research team.