China's Shenzhen sees plunge in resale home transaction volume - report

BEIJING : The city of Shenzhen, one of China's hottest residential real estate markets, saw a 84.5per cent plunge in resale home transaction volume in July versus a year earlier, a state-backed newspaper reported on Monday, as curbs to slow price increase kicked in.

Shenzhen saw a sharp rise in home prices last year as loose residency requirements aimed at attracting skilled workers and tight supplies prompted frantic buying.

That led Shenzhen to implement price-control measures. In February, the city established China's first pricing reference scheme to manage home-sale value, under which it set guidance prices below actual transaction prices, effectively putting a lid on the market.

Transaction volume fell 48per cent in the first half of this year compared with the same period a year prior, and dropped 84.5per cent in July from a year earlier, the Securities Times said.

Resale home prices in the city of 13 million people fell 0.1per cent in May from April, recent official data showed, the first on-month decline in 23 months.

Around six cities including Wuxi in the east and Dongguan in the south have launched similar schemes to contain soaring prices, the Securities Times said.

China's property market has regained strength quickly from the COVID-19 crisis last year, raising concern about over-heating and speculation.

In a meeting last month, a top decision-making body of the ruling Communist Party reiterated its stance on the property sector that "homes are for living in, not for speculation".

(Reporting by Liangping Gao and Ryan Woo; Editing by Christopher Cushing)