China home prices drop faster despite revival efforts

Continued price declines may dampen hopes that the real estate market is bottoming out.

China’s home prices fell at a quicker pace in February, worsening for the first time in six months despite the country’s latest efforts to prop up the market.

New-home prices in 70 cities, excluding state-subsidized housing, dropped 0.14% from January, when they slid 0.07%, National Bureau of Statistics figures showed Monday. Values of used homes fell 0.34%, the same pace as a month earlier.

Continued price declines may dampen hopes that the real estate market is bottoming out. Policymakers are struggling to contain the downturn at a time when deflationary pressure is adding to the economic gloom.

“Markets should not forget that China’s property collapse is not yet over,” Lu Ting, chief China economist at Nomura Holdings Inc., wrote in a March 10 report. “From the high-frequency data, the property sector appears to be losing some momentum.”