Home prices fall for second consecutive month in October

Home prices in China fell in October for a second consecutive month due to the nation's tightening measures intended to cool the overheated property market, a research institute said Tuesday. The China Index Academy, a Beijing-based company that studies China's property market, said in a report that average home prices in the country's 100 major cities dropped by 0.23 percent last month from September to reach 8,856 yuan (1,396.85 U.S. dollars) per square meter. A total of 58 cities posted month-on-month declines in home prices last month, while two cities reported their prices unchanged from September, the academy said. Home prices in 11 cities dropped by more than 1 percent in October, up from 10 cities a month earlier. Premier Wen Jiabao said Saturday the government will continue to maintain its control over the real-estate market while seeking to fine tune other economic policies. The country has adopted a slew of measures to curb excessive increases in housing prices, including imposing home purchase restrictions in approximately 40 cities and increasing down-payment requirements. The academy said some developers, including China Vanke Co., the country's biggest developer, have started lowering prices for their housing projects in first- and second-tier cities in order to buoy sales volumes and ease financial stress. Prices for some property projects fell by over 20 percent in October, according to the report.