In May of this year, out of 70 surveyed large Chinese cities, new housing prices in first-tier cities increased by 0.2 percent month-on-month, compared with an increase of 0.1 percent in April, while they decreased by 1.7 percent year-on-year, which is 0.4 percentage points slower compared to the annual decline in April of this year, as announced by the National Bureau of Statistics of China (NBS).
In China's second-tier cities, prices for used homes decreased 5.7 percent year-on-year in May, with a 0.2 percentage point slower decline compared with April, while they decreased 0.2 percent month-on-month. In third-tier cities, prices for used housing decreased by 6.2 percent year-on-year in May, with a 0.1 percentage point slower decline compared with April, while they decreased by 0.4 percent month-on-month.
The real estate industry is a key industry for steel demand. New housing prices in first-tier cities decreased by 1.7 percent year-on-year in May, signaling continued weak demand for steel, especially for steel rods, which led to more steel rods being sent to the export market. In the first five months, China's steel bar exports totaled 8.0 million tons, up 6.5 percent year-on-year, 0.6 percentage points higher than the decline recorded in the first four months.
As previously reported
