China’s home prices show govt curbs to cool sharply

China's property market slowed further last month, with average new home prices in the nation's 70 major cities cooling from October as a raft of government curbs appeared to discourage speculative demand. New home prices rose 0.6 % month-on-month, slowing from October's 1.1 %, according to Reuters calculations from data issued by the National Bureau of Statistics. The monthly decline suggested Beijing's efforts to rein in China's overheated property markets is paying off as authorities try to engineer a soft landing amid fears a furious rally of the past two years could trigger a crash. Compared with a year ago, new home prices still rose 12.6 percent, up from a 12.3 percent increase in October, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said. Shenzhen, Shanghai and Beijing prices rose 27.9 percent, 29.0 percent and 26.4 percent, respectively, from a year earlier, but their monthly pace slowed significantly as tightening measures implemented by local governments started to take effect. China has depended on a surging real estate market and government stimulus to drive growth this year, but policymakers have become concerned that a property frenzy will fuel price bubbles and risk a market crash. Regulators have told banks to strengthen risk management around property loans. More restrictions on home purchases have been implemented to curb soaring prices. The curbs seem to be working, with home sales and new property investment slowing significantly in November. The property sector contributed 8 percent to China's GDP growth in the first nine months of 2016, according to China's National Statistics Bureau.