China's Home Sales Reverse Declines for Biggest Gain in 5 Months

(Bloomberg) -- China’s new home sales rebounded in November, climbing the most in five months.

Sales by value, excluding affordable housing, increased 12.4 percent from a year earlier to 1.02 trillion yuan ($151 billion), according to Bloomberg calculations based on data released Thursday by the National Bureau of Statistics. Sales fell the two previous months.

The upswing comes even as officials have sought to tame a surge in property demand by rolling out restrictions on home purchases. Analysts forecast next year will see the first decline in sales since 2014 as China tackles excessive leverage and maintains curbs on purchases. Already, the government has loosened its grip on developers’ financing after the market began to cool.

Investment in real estate development slowed, growing 4.6 percent last month from a year earlier, down from a 5.6 percent increase in October, according to Bloomberg calculations. New starts, a leading indicator of real estate investment, surged 18.8 percent, the biggest gain since October last year.

To contact Bloomberg News staff for this story: Emma Dong in Shanghai at edong10@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Sree Vidya Bhaktavatsalam at sbhaktavatsa@bloomberg.net, Paul Panckhurst

©2017 Bloomberg L.P.

With assistance from Emma Dong