GROWTH in new home prices in China eased slightly in February as demand slowed over the Lunar Chinese New Year and some major cities clamped down further on speculative buying, a private survey showed yesterday.

New home prices in 100 cities rose 0.2 percent in February from a month earlier, slowing from 0.37 percent in January, according to data from China Index Academy (CIA), one of the country’s largest independent real estate research firms.

A series of property market curbs rolled out by bigger cities last month and the week-long new year holidays have led to softer home price growth, said CIA research director Cao Jingjing.

Since late January, major cities including Shanghai, Shenzhen and Beijing have unveiled tighter regulations to close loopholes in home transactions and contain illegal flows of funds into the sector.

“We expect home prices growth to maintain a steady and upward trend in March as developers speed up housing supply after holidays,” said Cao, who also estimates there will be more tightening in cities where demand remains hot.

On an annual basis, new home prices rose 4.01 percent, slightly outpacing January’s 3.56 percent gain.

More cities reported monthly gains, with the number up to 66 from 64 in January, while 27 cities posted lower home prices compared with 34 in the preceding month.

Land sales by volume in 40 major cities fell 37 percent in February from January, and declined 22 percent on an annual basis, CIA data showed.

(SD-Agencies)