AVERAGE new-home prices in China in May showed an improvement, rising from the month before after falling in 11 of the previous 12 months, with strong demand in cities such as Shenzhen and Shanghai leading the gains.

    Average new-home prices rose 0.45 percent in May following a 0.01 percent fall in April, data provider China Real Estate Index System said late Sunday. The index had shown month-on-month declines every month since May 2014, excluding January, when it rose 0.2 percent.

    From the same month a year earlier, average new-home prices fell 3.73 percent in May, narrowing from a 4.46 percent fall in April.

    Of the 100 cities surveyed, 48 showed month-on-month gains in home prices, compared with 39 in April. Average new-home prices in the remaining 52 cities fell.

    “The new move to lower interest rates gave a lift to the warming property market,” the data provider said in a statement, noting that more accommodative monetary-policy and looser local property measures supported the market.

    The downturn in China’s property sector since last year has triggered concerns among policymakers that it could weigh on the country’s economic growth. In recent months the Central Government has announced measures to ease lending conditions, as well as tax rules to support the market. The central bank lowered the downpayment rates for buyers of second homes and cut interest rates three times in six months, with the latest move on May 10.

    The signs of improvement in China’s housing market have been uneven across cities, with some still saddled with huge inventories, the data provider said. Smaller cities such as Huzhou, Urumqi, Nanning and Wuhu continue to see declines in home prices.(SD-Agencies)