China new home prices fall at slowest monthly pace in a year in April

BY Reuters | ECONOMIC | 09:43 PM EDT

BEIJING, May 18 (Reuters) - China's new home prices extended their decline in April, but fell at the slowest monthly pace in a year, official data showed on Monday, offering an early sign of improvement even as housing demand remained subdued despite efforts by cities across the country to boost sales and shore up sentiment.

New home prices dipped 0.1% in April from the previous month, narrowing from a 0.2% drop in March and marking the slowest decline since April last year, Reuters calculations based on data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

On an annual basis, prices fell 3.5%, compared with a 3.4% decline in March, marking the steepest drop in 11 months. (Reporting by Yukun Zhang, Liangping Gao and Ryan Woo; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

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