China home-price rises slow as demand eases

Sunday, 20/04/2014 | 01:53 GMT

More from the Wall Street Journal:

Growth in residential property prices across large- and medium-size Chinese cities slowed further in March as lending limits and discounts undercut demand
China’s housing market is an important pillar of growth in the economy. The construction, sale and outfitting of apartments accounted for nearly a quarter of China’s gross domestic product in 2013, Moody’s Analytics calculates.
“There are financial consequences of the oversupply of apartments,” said Ronnie Chan, chairman of Hong Kong-listed property developer Hang Lung Group. “But I don’t see it blowing up in our faces as it did in the U.S.”
In recent weeks, reduced sales and falling prices have prompted some local governments to consider easing curbs imposed earlier to cool the market, including eligibility criteria for second or subsequent homes. Housing sales for the three months ended in March fell 7.7% to 1.11 trillion yuan ($178 billion), according to official data
Local media reported that authorities in Fujian province, the city of Changsha in central China’s Hunan province and the cities of Hangzhou and Wenzhou in coastal Zhejiang province are considering adjusting property curbs to spur home sales