Housing market enjoys upswing

In October, the total transaction volume of China's new and secondhand homes experienced their first increase after an eight-month decline, said the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development on Friday.

The nationwide sales volume of new homes rose 0.9 percent year-on-year in October, according to the ministry's data.

The increase marks the first positive growth in the new housing sector after 15 consecutive months of declines since June of last year.