China January new home prices +0.3% m/m (prior +0.1%) and +3.9% y/y (prior +3.8%)

Rising property prices are a key underpinning of domestic growth in China

Authorities do become concerned if prices appear to be rising too rapidly, citing leverage risks. This does not appear to be a concern at present though.

However, there are signals out of China that a tightening of monetary policy is being eyed:

• China state media says the recovery in economic growth paves the way for monetary policy normalization

Note too that China's home mortgage rates rose for the first time in 13 months in February. Authorities imposed caps on banks' real estate loans.