Average prices of new homes in 70 Chinese cities rose by 9.7 percent year-on-year in December of 2018, accelerating from a 9.3 percent rise in the previous month. It is the 44th straight month of price increases and the strongest annual gain since July 2017. Among China's four biggest cities, Guangzhou reported the largest increase (8.3 percent), followed by Beijing (2.3 percent), Shanghai (0.4 percent), and Shenzhen (0.1 percent). On a monthly basis, new home prices went up 0.8 percent in December, after a 0.9 percent rise in November. 59 Cities showed a month-on-month price gain in December, compared to 63 cities in a month earlier. To cool the property market, Chinese authorities have imposed tighter measures since March 2017 in at least two dozen cities. Housing Index in China averaged 4.09 percent from 2011 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 12.60 percent in November of 2016 and a record low of -6.10 percent in March of 2015.
Housing Index in China is expected to be 10.00 percent by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Housing Index in China to stand at 8.00 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the China Newly Built House Prices YoY Change is projected to trend around 6.00 percent in 2020, according to our econometric models.