June new home prices up 0.05%

Increase drives average in Beijing, Shanghai to 15,429 yuan per sq m

Zhang Qidi feels that he can't wait any longer to find a home to buy.

Everybody he's talked to, including many agents, have told him prices are beginning to rise and if he doesn't hurry, his limited savings won't be enough to make the down payment.

So on Monday morning, bracing the sweltering heat, the 32-year-old salesman in a German-owned electronic appliance company, visited three newly developed complexes.

"I'm exhausted," he said during a break for lunch.

But there's no time to rest. He was scheduled to see more in the afternoon.

What's the rush?

"I am getting married in August and I want to buy a home for my future wife," he said.

Zhang's fiancee, Qiu Linna, keeps phoning for updates on prices and what discounts are being offered.

"With the 200,000 yuan we have, and house prices starting to rise in Shanghai, we don't have many choices left," he said.

The couple has been touring Shanghai on weekends and holidays to see apartments and meeting salespeople for almost a year now, waiting for further discounts on new homes, lower interest rates for home loans, and more affordable properties to be introduced.

The couple said they were just about out of time waiting.

"We follow house prices every day, and it seems that a turning point has come. Prices are no longer dropping, and if we wait for another year, our money will not be even enough for a one-bedroom apartment," said Liu.

According to a report released on Monday by China Index Academy, one of the largest research organizations that specialize in property information in China, new home average prices in China rose for the first time in 10 months in June as the government adjusted its monetary policies to boost the nation's economy by lowering benchmark interest rates in June.

House prices rose by 0.05 percent from May, reaching 8,688 yuan ($1,400) per sq m in June.

The median of new home prices in 100 monitored cities around China climbed to 5,750 yuan per square meter, a 0.88 percent month-on-month increase, according to the report.

Month-on-month comparisons show the average price of new homes in 10 monitored major cities in China grew in June.

In Shanghai and Beijing, average prices of 10 monitored properties hit 15,429 yuan per sq m, a 0.75 percent month-on-month increase.

In Shanghai, the average new home price was 23,141 yuan per sq m in June, a 0.65 month-on-month increase. And in Guangzhou, it was 15,145 yuan, a 0.48 percent month-on-month increase.