China’s housing prices continued to drop last month, adding to pressure on developers already suffering from a sales slump and a credit crunch under restrictive real estate lending policies.
The average price of new homes in 31 second-tier cities — provincial capitals — dropped 0.2% from September. Prices in smaller third-tier cities dropped 0.3%, according to figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics Monday.
New home prices in first-tier cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, held flat with the previous month, but resale prices declined 0.4%, compared with a 0.3% drop in second and third-tier cities, the data showed.
The latest data came amid the country's strict housing sector regulations, which follow the principle – "housing is for living in, not for speculation."