THE country’s new homes prices grew moderately in December, official data showed Friday, as government measures aimed at cooling the property market took their toll.

Average new home prices in 70 major cities rose 0.1 percent month on month in December, according to media calculations of data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The pace of growth was unchanged from November.

New home prices rose 3.8 percent in December versus a year earlier, slowing slightly from a 4 percent increase in November.

China’s property market has recovered quickly from the COVID-19 pandemic. But the sharp rebound has raised concerns about financial risk.

Regulators outlined borrowing caps known as “the three red lines” in August, followed by the central bank in December, which introduced caps on property loans issued by banks.

The NBS data also showed the number of cities reporting monthly price increases for new homes rose to 42 out of 70 from 36 in November.

Monthly gains were driven by price rises in tier-1 cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, underscoring the deepening disparity in the market.

New home prices rose 0.3 percent in tier-1 cities and second-hand home prices gained 0.6 percent.

Zhang Dawei, an analyst with property agency Centaline, said an influx of population, which is common for big cities, growing speculative purchases and tight new home supply all contributed to the price gains in tier-1 cities. He expected those cities to lead home price growth in China in the first quarter of 2021.

China saw uneven growth in home prices in 2020 as the wealthy made the most of easy credit during the coronavirus pandemic to buy property in eastern and southern coastal cities, while smaller cities saw slower home price growth.

Yangzhou City in the eastern Yangtze River Delta led monthly price growth in December, with home prices rising 0.8 percent, the NBS data showed.

Xu Xiaole, analyst at Beike Research Institute, said price rises will concentrate in core cities in 2021, with some cities likely to face relatively “huge” price pressures.

“We expect property policies to be more hawkish in 2021 in light of strong growth rebound and more focus on risk control, with tougher rules on developers’ financing and property-related credit persisting and some overheating cities tightening home purchase rules,” economists at UBS said.

China’s central bank will keep its regulation on the real estate sector consistent to promote the sector’s healthy and stable development, an official said Friday.

The central bank will stick to the principle that “houses are for living in, not for speculation” and continue to implement tailored housing regulation for different cities, said Zou Lan, head of the financial market department of the People’s Bank of China, at a press conference.

The country stepped up financial regulation on the housing sector last year with policies encouraging liquidity into the manufacturing industry as well as small and micro companies instead of the property sector, Zou noted.

As a result, the growth rate in all kinds of loans surpassed the growth in real estate loans for the first time in eight years, Zou said.

The central bank will steadily implement the prudential management for real estate finance, increase financial support for the housing rentals, and promote the steady and healthy development of the real estate market, Zou said.(SD-Xinhua)