OCTOBER property sales and new construction starts fell in October as the property market cooled from a two-year boom in the face of a tighter liquidity environment and a crackdown on riskier lending.

Real estate investment growth also cooled in October, in line with expectations.

Property sales by floor area fell by 6 percent in October from a year earlier, compared with a 1.5-percent decline in September, according to media calculations. The decline was the biggest since the first two months of 2015.

Sales by value fell by 1.7 percent year on year for October, the first decline in monthly property sales value since March 2015, and compared to a 1.6-percent gain in September.

Data on Monday showed household loans, mostly mortgages, fell to 450 billion yuan in October from 735 billion yuan in September, calculations from central bank data showed, alongside reports that banks have slowed mortgage approvals.

Property investment grew 5.6 percent in October from a year earlier, cooling from expansion of 9.2 percent in September, showed calculation from National Bureau of Statistics data yesterday. October’s growth was the slowest since July.

New construction starts measured by floor area, a telling indicator of developers’ confidence, were down 4.3 percent in October from a year earlier, after only rising 1.4 percent in September, calculations showed. The biggest previous decline was 7 percent in July.(SD-Agencies)