GROWTH in property investment in China cooled to the second slowest pace in 2018 in December, adding to signs of a further slackening in the real estate market in a blow to a key driver of economic growth.

Real estate investment, which mainly focuses on the residential sector but includes commercial and office space, rose 8.2 percent in December from a year earlier, down from 9.3 percent in November, according to calculations based on data released by National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) yesterday.

That was just ahead of the slowest pace of growth last year at 7.7 percent recorded for October.

For 2018, China’s investment in property development grew 9.5 percent year on year, 2.5 percentage points faster than the pace in 2017, the NBS said.

The total property investment last year surpassed 12 trillion yuan (US$1.77 trillion), the NBS said.

The investment in residential buildings, accounting for more than 70 percent of the total, rallied 13.4 percent from a year ago in 2018, speeding up from the 9.4-percent increase in 2017.

The data also showed buildings with a total of 1.72 billion square meters in floor area were sold last year, 1.3 percent higher than 2017. The sales in value gained 12.2 percent to 15 trillion yuan.

Home sales increased 2.2 percent in floor area and 14.7 percent in value.

The real estate sector is a key pillar of the economy, so any further weakness in sales could influence the pace and scope of fresh stimulus measures expected this year.

Analysts predict the softer sales will constrain price growth in coming months, dampening developers’ appetite for front-loading construction.

Funds raised by China’s property developers grew 6.4 percent in 2018 on an annual basis. That was slower from the pace of 7.6 percent in the first eleven months, according to the statistics bureau.

Measured by floor area, construction starts surged 20.5 percent from a year earlier, down from 21.7 percent in November, according to calculations.

Meanwhile, China’s fixed-asset investment continued stable growth last year thanks to robust private and high-tech investment, official data showed.

The fixed-asset investment grew 5.9 percent year on year to 63.56 trillion yuan in 2018, 0.5 percentage point faster than that recorded in the first three quarters, the NBS said.

Private investment, accounting for about 62 percent of the total, posted a vigorous 8.7-percent increase, picking up pace from the 6-percent growth in 2017.

As another bright spot, investment in the high-tech and equipment manufacturing sectors remained strong, up by 16.1 percent and 11.1 percent, respectively.(SD-Agencies)