Homebuyers in 'wait and see' mode as prices shake out

China's home price growth continued to ease in February, while turnover dropped significantly.

The first price report to be issued after last week's housing market tumble, which savaged real estate stocks, showed momentum has indeed slowed but also that the cooling didn't arrive precipitously and that a national crash is not on the horizon.

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Month-on-month, new home price growth in 100 Chinese cities monitored by China Index Academy, a private institution affiliated with China's largest real estate website, rose 0.54 percent in February, compared with the 0.63 percent gain recorded in January.

Monthly price gains have slowed since December, according to the academy.

Year-on-year, new home prices in the cities rose 10.79 percent in February, which was less than January's 11.1 percent growth. It was the second consecutive growth decline since December.

The slowing price gains were accompanied by a sharp drop in transaction volume.

Data from Centaline Group, a national housing brokerage, showed that in February, a total of 135,600 new units were sold in the 54 major cities it tracks. This was 13.8 percent lower than last February's numbers and 35 percent below this January's.

"As the overall market outlook turned bearish, developers, banks and homebuyers adopted a 'wait-and-see' attitude, and housing supply and turnover in most cities reached a historic low point," China Index Academy's report said.

China's metropolises experienced sharper slumps in turnover than smaller cities in February. In Beijing, housing sales registered at the city's housing bureau fell by 68 percent from the previous month, the weakest numbers since January 2012.

Still, the slide failed to weigh on prices, and Beijing saw new home prices increase 1.97 percent month-on-month, the strongest gain among the 10 major cities China Index Academy monitored. The average gain, it said, was 1.08 percent.

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