New Home Prices in China's Major Cities Continue to Rise in May

BEIJING, Jun. 22  -- New commercial home prices in 36 major Chinese cities continued to climb month on month in May despite the government's attempt to cool the property market, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said Tuesday.

Average new commercial home prices in 36 popular cities were at 8,479 yuan (1,247 U.S. dollars) per square meter in May, up 0.81 percent from the April figure, according to the NDRC.

However, the May growth rate in those 36 major cities was 2.65 percentage points lower than the April figure.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics figures released on June 10, home prices in 70 large- and medium-sized Chinese cities rose by 12.4 percent year on year in May.

To rein in house prices, the Chinese government has tightened scrutiny of developers' financing, limited loans for third-home purchases, raised minimum mortgage rates and tightened down-payment requirements for second-home purchases.