China new home prices in July unchanged from June, down 0.9% y/y

Buildings of a residential compound are seen in Shanghai, China, March 17, 2016. REUTERS/Aly Song

BEIJING, Aug 15 (Reuters) – China’s new home prices in July were unchanged for a second month as already fragile sentiment was further corroded by a mortgage boycott by homebuyers upset by unfinished projects despite continued stimulus measures.

Compared to a year ago, new home prices in July fell 0.9%, the fastest pace since September 2015, and extending a 0.5% decline in June, according to Reuters calculations based on National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data released on Monday.

Already grappling with a debt crisis among developers and weak homebuyer sentiment, China’s property market, accounting for a quarter of gross domestic product by some metrics, has been further rocked by a mortgage boycott that erupted last month across the country.

Reporting by Liangping Gao and Ryan Woo; Editing by Christian Schmollinger

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