Average property prices in 70 Chinese cities covered in a government survey fell in February for the fifth consecutive month, as sluggish sales continue to compel developers to cut prices.
Home-buying sentiment has deteriorated sharply since last year's final quarter, and the central government—even as it looks for ways to make sure first-time buyers can get loans—had continued a campaign to otherwise cool the property sector.
The National Bureau of Statistics said on Sunday that prices of newly built homes fell in February from January in 45 of the 70 large and midsize cities covered in the survey, compared with declines in 48 cities in January from December.
Prices rose in February in four of the 70 cities, compared with none in January.
Prices in 27 of the 70 cities were lower in February than they were a year earlier.
In January, prices in 15 cities were lower than a year earlier.
Property prices in major cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou were marginally lower in February than in January, the statement from the statistics bureau said.
Based on Dow Jones Newswires' calculations, average prices in the 70 cities fell 0.099% in February from a month earlier, compared with drops of 0.14% in January and 0.22% in December.
Compared with a year earlier, prices in February edged up 0.17% on average in the 70 cities, moderating from January's 0.7%.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said last week that property prices are still far from reasonable, and that the country can't relax the property controls put in place over the past two years.
These policies have scored successes, he said, and relaxing them too soon would lead to "chaos" in the property market.
Apartment prices will likely continue to fall, analysts said, as long as the central government keeps a tight grip on the property market.
And the government, which is determined to curb real-estate speculation, is expected to maintain these policies for the foreseeable future, said Mark Budden, who heads the China office of property and construction consulting firm EC Harris.
"China's property prices will likely continue their downward trend, likely going into the second half of 2012 and until policies are altered," Mr. Budden said.
