Business

China March new home prices rise at fastest pace in 21 months

Published

1 year ago

April 15, 2023

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China’s new home prices rose in March at the fastest pace in 21 months, official data showed on Saturday, suggesting the market is out of the doldrums amid a flurry of support policies, but there is uncertainty on the strength of the momentum.

New home prices in March edged up 0.5% month-on-month after a 0.3% rise in February, marking the fastest pace since June 2021 and the third consecutive monthly rise, according to Reuters calculations based on National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data.

Prices in annual terms showed the smallest drop since June 2022, down 0.8% in March after a 1.2% decline in February, the 11th month of declines on an annual basis.

“The housing price index shows a trend of stabilization and recovery, fully indicating the overall real estate is out of last year’s trough,” said Yan Yuejin, an analyst at the Shanghai-based E-house China Research and Development Institution.

Strong home sales in March drove up an improvement in house prices, said Yan.
The property sector, accounting for roughly a quarter of China’s economy, was hit hard last year as a regulatory crackdown on developers’ high debt levels snowballed into a financing crunch, stalling construction on housing projects. Some buyers boycotted mortgage repayments, further weakening consumer sentiment amid tough COVID restrictions.

Major cities have seen a rebound in home sales over the past month, as pent-up demand was unleashed after China abruptly rolled back COVID curbs in December.

Among 70 cities surveyed by the NBS, 64 cities saw an uptick in new home prices in monthly terms, the most cities since May 2019 and up from 55 in February.

The increase in house prices was broad-based among all city tiers which all extended their month-on-month gains.

However, analysts say it is still too early to tell whether the nascent property recovery will be sustained, because of the uncertainty over consumer confidence.

“The property sector recovery should be gradual and bumpy, due to the challenging demographic trend, still-tight financing conditions for troubled developers and policymakers’ long-held stance that ‘housing is for living in, not for speculation’,” said analysts at Goldman Sachs commenting on the data.

Last month, more than 50 cities introduced stimulus policies or relaxed some property rules, including subsidies, more housing provident funds and easing home purchase curbs.

“The biggest problem in the economy is insufficient demand with increasing deflationary pressure, the continued stabilization of real estate is critical as recent data showing sales growth has slowed,” said Wu Jinhui, analyst at CSCI Pengyuan Credit Rating Limited.

“In the second quarter, there is room for policy relaxation on both the supply and demand side, such as a balance sheet improvement for high-quality property firms, smaller down payments and cuts in mortgage rates.”

Credit data this week suggested the growth of household medium-to-long term loans, which are mostly mortgages, accelerated in March, in line with improved property transactions.

Earlier in April, the central bank released a quarterly survey of urban depositors that showed 17.5% of respondents have plans to buy a home during the next three months, up from 16% in the previous quarterly survey.

China will release property sales and investment data for March on Tuesday, along with economic activity data and first quarter gross domestic product (GDP).

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Business

Chinese firm aims to expand investments in Pakistan, shows interest in mining sector

Published

22 hours ago

May 17, 2024

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Chinese firm aims to expand investments in Pakistan, shows interest in mining sector

A notable Chinese company has expressed keen interest in expanding its investment in Pakistan, in yet another sign of investor confidence boost in the leadership of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

A delegation from Chinese firm MCC Tongsin Resources led by its Chairman Wang Jaichen called on PM Shehbaz here on Friday.

The premier invited the Chinese company to invest in Pakistan’s mining sector and manufacturing of export goods.

Shehbaz assured the delegation that his government would extend all-out facilitation to the company from minerals exploration and processing to the export of goods.

The PM instructed the relevant federal ministers and officers to continue consultation with the Chinese firm, taking the Balochistan chief minister, provincial departments and stakeholders on board.

The delegates reposed trust in PM Shehbaz’s leadership, and expressed keen interest in enhancing their investment in Pakistan’s mining and minerals sectors.

The delegation briefed Prime Minister Shehbaz about the construction of a mineral park in Pakistan and their future investment plans.

The premier welcomed the Chinese firm and highlighted the priority steps by his government to promote foreign investment in Pakistan.

He said that being a time-tested friend, China supported Pakistan in every difficult hour for which the Pakistani nation was grateful to the leadership and people of China.

Federal ministers Ahad Khan Cheema, Dr Musaddik Malik, Rana Tanveer Hussain, Jam Kamal Khan and relevant senior officers attended the meeting.

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Business

Govt jacks up power price by Rs1.47 per unit

Published

22 hours ago

May 17, 2024

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Govt jacks up power price by Rs1.47 per unit

The government on Friday increased the electricity tariff by Rs1.47 per unit.

According to Nepra sources, the collection from consumers will take place in August, September, and October.

The electricity companies had requested the funds as part of the third quarter adjustment for 2023-2024, seeking Rs 31.34 billion under capacity charges.

Sources said that Rs5.57 billion were requested for operation and maintenance costs, and Rs12.38 billion were requested for the transmission and distribution impact under monthly fuel cost adjustment.

Previously, Nepra had completed the hearing on the electricity companies’ request under the quarterly adjustment.

Nepra approved the Power Division’s request, allowing an increase of Rs 1.45 per unit in electricity prices.

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Business

Hong Kong allows China’s digital yuan to be used in local shops

Published

22 hours ago

May 17, 2024

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Hong Kong allows China's digital yuan to be used in local shops

Hong Kong will allow mainland China’s pilot digital currency to be used in shops in the city, the head of its de facto central bank said on Friday, marking a step forward for Beijing’s efforts to internationalise the yuan amid rising geopolitical tensions.

The programme, backed by Beijing, will allow mainland Chinese and Hong Kong residents to open digital yuan wallets via a mobile app developed by China’s central bank and will permit them to make payments in retail shops and some online stores in Hong Kong and in mainland China.

Transactions using e-CNY, predominantly for domestic retail payments in China, hit 1.8 trillion yuan ($249.27 billion) as of end of June 2023, with 120 million digital wallets opened, according to the latest disclosure from China’s central bank.

Using the wallet, users can make payments at over 10 million merchants in 17 provinces and cities in the mainland.

Each wallet used in the city will be subject to a balance limit of 10,000 yuan, with single transactions and daily payments capped at 2,000 yuan and 5,000 yuan, respectively, officials from the Hong Kong Monetary Authority said.

Peer-to-peer transfers will not be allowed at the moment, according to the HKMA.

“By expanding the e-CNY pilot in Hong Kong .. users may now top up their wallets anytime, anywhere without having to open a mainland bank account, thereby facilitating merchant payments in the mainland by Hong Kong residents,” HKMA Chief Eddie Yue said.

Currently, users of other digital yuan wallets such as those operated by Ant Group and Tencent can make payments in the city.

Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Bank of China Ltd, China Construction Bank Corp and Bank of Communications Co have been selected as e-CNY wallet operators.

The yuan’s use in global finance remains low, though it has shown steady increases.

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