Potential homebuyers look at property models in Huaian, Jiangsu province. [Photo by Chen Liang/For China Daily]
BEIJING, Feb. 21 (Xinhua) -- China continued to see a generally stable housing market in January, official data showed Monday.
New home prices in four first-tier cities -- Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou -- edged up 0.6 percent month on month in January, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Specifically, new home prices in Beijing and Shanghai rose 1 percent and 0.6 percent month-on-month, respectively, while prices in Guangzhou and Shenzhen each gained 0.5 percent.
A total of 31 second-tier cities saw a month-on-month increase of 0.1 percent in new home prices, while 35 third-tier cities witnessed a month-on-month decline of 0.2 percent in new home prices last month.
Like new home prices, price movements in the second-hand home market also diverged, with the first-tier cities reporting slight price increases and second- and third-tier cities registering price declines.
Prices of second-hand homes in the four first-tier cities gained 0.1 percent month on month, unchanged from the growth rate registered in December last year.
The NBS data also showed that in January, second-hand home prices in second-tier cities edged down 0.2 percent while those in third-tier cities decreased 0.4 percent month on month.
