China’s housing minister expects property sales to slow down in the fourth quarter, with prices remaining stable, reported Reuters.
“The national growth rate of transitions for commercial housing will slow in the fourth quarter,” said Wang Menghui, China’s housing ministry head, at the once-every-five-years congress of the ruling Communist Party.
This comes as the government’s property cooling measures, which it intends to keep, has succeeded in containing the rapid rise in property prices.
“We will firmly maintain our position that houses are for living in, not for speculation,” said Wang, noting that the property market was stable and healthy.
China saw property sales fell for the first time in more than two-and-half years in September. Housing starts also dropped significantly as the government’s cooling measures started to bite.
The slowdown in property activity seemed to have dragged China’s broader growth, with the economy growing by only 6.8 percent in Q3 2017, down from 6.9 percent in the previous quarter.
While further slowing is expected over the coming months, the head of the state planning agency believes that the economy remains on track to meet its 6.5 percent official full-year growth target.
This article was edited by Keshia Faculin.
