China's home prices remain stable in October

Visitors check out a property project at a housing fair in Luoyang, Central China's Henan province. [Photo provided to China Daily]

BEIJING - China's property market remained stable in October with home prices falling or posting slower growth in major cities amid tough control policies, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said Saturday.

On a yearly basis, new residential housing prices saw slower growth in 13 of the 15 major cities considered the "hottest markets," NBS data showed.

On a month-on-month basis, new residential housing prices fell in 9 of the 15 cities.

New home prices in Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chengdu climbed 0.1, 0.3, and 0.7 percent, respectively.

Of the 70 large and medium-sized cities surveyed, home prices in 50 cities rose month on month, compared with 44 in September.

NBS statistician Liu Jianwei said that housing prices were "generally stable" in major cities as control policies in different cities continued to take effect.

New residential housing prices in the country's first-tier cities dropped 0.1 percent compared with a month earlier, while second-hand home prices remained flat.

On a yearly basis, both new and second-hand home prices in the first-tier cities reported slower growth for the 13th consecutive month in October.

New home prices in smaller second- and third-tier cities both rose 0.3 percent month-on-month, higher than the growth in September.

The data provides fresh evidence that China's property market boom is running out of steam as the government continues cooling measures to squeeze asset bubbles.

Since late last year, dozens of local governments have passed or expanded restrictions on house purchases and increased the minimum down payment required for a mortgage.

Earlier data showed that real estate investment growth also slowed in the first 10 months to 7.8 percent year-on-year, down from 8.1 percent in the first three quarters.