1st LD: China's housing market continues recovery

China's housing market continued recovering from a prolonged downturn in July, with new home prices dropping in fewer cities for a fifth month amid better market confidence and lower interest rates.

Of 70 large and medium-sized cities surveyed in July, new home prices climbed in 31, up from the 27 in the previous month, while 29 reported month-on-month price declines, down from June's 34, according to data released on Tuesday by the National Bureau of Statistics.

Year on year, 67 cities reported new home price drops, down from June's 68, with Beijing, Shenzhen and Shanghai the only three cities that posted a rise in home prices.

For existing homes, 18 cities saw price declines in July on a monthly basis, 13 reported flat prices, while 39 cities posted gains.

According to NBS statistician Liu Jianwei, home prices in top-tier cities, where demand is high, saw strong growth. While in second-tier cities, both new and existing home prices recorded weaker growth and for third-tier cities, home prices continued to decline.

China's housing market took a downturn in 2014 due to weak demand and a surplus of unsold homes. The cooling has continued into 2015, with both sales and prices falling and investment slowing.

The central bank has moved to combat the slowdown, cutting benchmark interest rates four times since November and lowering banks' reserve requirement ratio twice since February.

To help the emerging signs of improvement in the property sector, the country also eased down payment requirements for second-home purchases and some local governments have rolled back their restrictions on home purchases. Endit