Chinese Home Prices Fall for 8th Straight Month
New home prices in China dropped 6.1% last month compared to the same period in the previous year. It was the eighth straight month of decline and the real estate downturn remained the single biggest threat to the world's second largest economy, which experts say will suffer its worst year in a quarter century. Still, there was reason for cheer. Prices held steady between April and March and rose slightly in Beijing, for the second consecutive month, and Shanghai, for the first time in one year.
Those glimmers of hope have boosted optimism that the Chinese housing slide is near its trough. Analysts did warn that a large oversupply will make any recovery a tentative one and added that the economy will likely miss its goal this year of 7% growth. Furthermore, with construction down real estate investment slid to its lowest point in six years. Yet with mortgage applications up 2.1% between January and April compared to the previous year, a comeback, however slow, may be on the horizon.
