China's housing market continues to ease in November

BEIJING -- China continued to see its housing market ease in November under strengthened market regulations, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) Wednesday.

New home prices in four first-tier cities stood unchanged in November from October, according to the NBS data.

Prices of resale homes in the four cities edged down 0.2 percent in November from that in October, narrowing 0.2 percentage points from the month-on-month decline in the previous month.

A total of 31 second-tier cities saw a month-on-month decline of 0.4 percent in new home prices, widening 0.2 percentage points from the decline in the previous month, while 35 third-tier cities saw a month-on-month decline of 0.3 percent in new home prices, the same with the change registered in the previous month.

On a yearly basis, new home prices in the four first-tier cities rose 4.8 percent in November, down 0.2 percentage points from the rise in the previous month, while resale home prices in the regions climbed 5.8 percent, down 0.9 percentage points from the rise in the previous month.

The latest data came amid the country's strict housing sector regulations, which follow the principle - "housing is for living in, not for speculation."

China's investment in property development rose 6 percent year-on-year in the first 11 months of this year, NBS data showed.

During the period, property investment stood at around 13.73 trillion yuan (about $2.15 trillion).

Compared with the same period in 2019, property investment climbed 13.2 percent, putting the two-year average at 6.4 percent.

Investment in residential buildings went up 8.1 percent from a year earlier to 10.36 trillion yuan in the first 11 months, according to the NBS data.