Real estate market data map. Photo by China News Service reporter Luo Yunfei 

Second-hand housing prices in first-tier cities fell year-on-year for the first time in more than a year. Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics of China on the 17th showed that in August, the sales price of second-hand housing in the four first-tier cities of Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen fell by 0.2% year-on-year, which was the first decline since June last year.

Second-hand housing prices in 70 large and medium-sized cities have also shown a cooling trend. Among the 70 cities, the number of cities where second-hand housing prices increased month-on-month in August was 43, a decrease of 5 from the previous month; the number of cities where second-hand housing prices fell month-on-month was 20, which was the same as the previous two months.

Zhang Dawei, chief analyst of Centaline Real Estate, pointed out that compared with last month, second-hand housing prices in Chengdu, Xiamen and Yueyang have cooled the fastest, and the month-on-month increase has narrowed the most.

The price of newly built commercial housing also showed a steady and slightly downward trend. Among the 70 cities, 55 cities saw a month-on-month increase in new home prices in August, a decrease of 5 from the previous month. Among them, the price of new houses in Nanning increased the most month-on-month, up 2.3%, while the prices of new houses in cities such as Shaoguan, Yichang, Luzhou, and Urumqi fell significantly month-on-month.

Guo Shiying, Zhuge Housing Data Analyst, pointed out that the guidance of "stabilizing land prices, stabilizing housing prices, and stabilizing expectations" became more obvious in August. Housing prices in cities at all levels were mainly stable, and the entire real estate market continued to be stable overall. The number of cities with rising prices for new and second-hand homes has declined.

Zhang Bo, chief analyst of 58 Anjuke Real Estate Research Institute, said that despite the overall cooling trend, hot spots in the property market are also emerging due to favorable policies. For example, due to the influence of the Lingang New Area policy, Shanghai Pudong Lingang New City ranks first among the popular areas in the region, and the launch of the Shenzhen Pilot Demonstration Zone policy has also increased market popularity.

Zhang Bo pointed out that with the arrival of "Golden September", the traditional peak season of the real estate market, market differentiation will continue, and some third- and fourth-tier cities may continue to cool down, while hot spots in first-tier cities and new first-tier cities with both supply and demand are still hot. However, the chance of the property market overheating in the second half of the year is still small, and stability will be the main theme of the market.