China's property sales record positive growth in December

In December, the month-on-month sales prices of commercial residential properties in China's first-tier cities rose, while the overall decline in second and third-tier cities narrowed, data collected from 70 large and medium-sized cities by the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Friday.

In the country's first-tier cities, namely Beijing and Shanghai, as well as Guangzhou and Shenzhen in Guangdong province, prices of new homes climbed 0.2 percent over the previous month, the NBS said in a news release.

Prices of second-hand homes in first-tier cities rose 0.3 percent in December, a 0.1 percentage point slowdown from the previous month.

In December, the month-on-month sales price of new commercial housing in second-tier cities remained flat, reversing the 0.1 percent decline recorded in the previous month. However, the price of second-hand housing in these cities fell by 0.3 percent, widening the drop by 0.1 percentage points compared to November.

Meanwhile, in third-tier cities, prices of new homes declined by 0.2 percent month-on-month, narrowing the drop by 0.1 percentage points. The price of second-hand housing in these cities fell by 0.4 percent, contracting the decline by 0.1 percentage points.

China's property development investment came in at 10.028 trillion yuan in 2024, a 10.6 percent decrease compared to the previous year. Within this, residential investment amounted to 7.604 trillion yuan, down 10.5 percent, the NBS said on Friday in a separate press conference.