Home sales in major Chinese cities spike in April

Sales volume of new homes in China's major cities posted a solid gain in April with the support of the recent policy easing, the latest industry report showed.

New home sales in China's 30 major cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen surged 15.1 percent in April from the previous month to 16.57 million square meters, also representing an increase of 30.8 percent from the previous year, according to the report released by E-house China R&D Institute, a leading property consultancy.

Of the tier-one cities, Beijing witnessed the strongest new home sales growth at 70.7 percent in April compared with a year earlier, noted the report released Wednesday.

China's property market took a downturn in 2014 due to weak demand and an excess of unsold homes. In late March, China's central bank cut the minimum down payment requirement for second home buyers to 40 percent.

Business tax will be exempt for sales of homes purchased more than two years ago, instead of the previous requirement of five years, the Ministry of Finance announced. These easing measures have bolstered the recent rebound of the real estate market, analysts said.

Policy easing should further lift home transactions in the months ahead, with a strong rebound expected in the second quarter, predicted Yan Yuejin, a researcher with the institute. Endi