CHINA'S urban property prices extended growth for the 12th consecutive month in May.
However, the advancement tapered off as rein-in measures introduced by the central government in April started to take effect.
Real estate prices in 70 major cities on the Chinese mainland rose 12.4 percent from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said yesterday on its Website.
That compared to 12.8 percent growth in April, the biggest year-on-year gain since July 2005, when the bureau doubled the number of cities it was tracking.
"Slower growth has indicated that earlier government efforts to curb housing speculation are gradually taking effect," said Song Huiyong, director of research at Shanghai Centaline Property Consultants.
Shanghai data
"However, it is still too early to say that the market will bottom out soon as the current tug-of-war between home owners and buyers will probably continue for some time before further policies are rolled out."
Tightening measures have slashed home sales in the country's first and second-tier cities, while significant price discounts are yet to come.
As for third and fourth-tier cities, transactions were not down much generally, while home prices maintained their upward trend, Song said.
In Shanghai, transactions in new homes plunged 70 percent last month to 300,000 square meters.
Average prices of new homes, excluding those designated for relocated residents under urban-redevelopment plans, dipped 2.6 percent from April to 22,338 yuan (US$3,271) per square meter, Shanghai Uwin Real Estate Information Services said.
In the existing home market, volume dropped about 70 percent to 6,500 units in May with sale prices about 10 percent lower than in April, according to Centaline research.
In mid-April, the government raised the down-payment requirement on second-home mortgages to at least 50 percent from 40 percent, and the central government issued a notice later saying banks should suspend loans to third or more home buyers.
China's housing and lending regulators and the central bank announced last week that banks should consider both the mortgage and home purchase records of people applying for second mortgages.
Across the country, prices of new and existing homes jumped 15.1 percent and 9.2 percent year on year in May while in Shanghai, they both rose 11.5 percent.
From January to May, property sales by area rose 22.5 percent nationwide to 302 million square meters, 10.3 percentage points lower than growth in the first four months, the bureau said.