Housing prices stabilize in major Chinese cities during December

Housing prices stabilized in major Chinese cities last month as prices of new and pre-owned homes remained unchanged or grew at a slower pace from a year ago, suggesting that the property market is on the right track with stable land and home prices, said experts.

New home prices declined in 16 cities during December, while in the secondary market 26 out of the 70 major cities tracked by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) recorded monthly declines in pre-owned home prices.

"Local governments have actively carried out the central government's guidances for the real estate sector. They have stuck to their respective measures to stabilize local markets as well as establish a long-term mechanism," said Kong Peng, chief statistician of the NBS.