New home purchases in China registered a slower pace of growth again in the first 11 months of this year with rein-in measures leaving continuing impact on buyers' sentiment, data released today by the National Bureau of Statistics showed.

New homes worth 8.7 trillion yuan (US$1.25 trillion), excluding government-funded affordable housing, were sold across the country between January and November, a year-on-year increase of 39.3 percent. The pace slowed from a 42.6 percent gain in the first 10 months and a 43.2 percent rise in the first three quarters.

About 1.19 billion square meters of new homes were sold during the 11 months, up 24.5 percent from same period a year ago. The rise slowed from the 27 percent increase in the first 10 months and the 27.1 percent annual gain in the first three quarters, the data showed.

"Tightening policies implemented in first and selected second-tier cities in October and November proved to be effective in curbing rapid price growth," said Mao Shengyong, a spokesman at the bureau. "Since the real estate industry is vital to both the wellbeing of the general public and the country's economic development, it remains our priority to maintain a healthy and stable property market."

In November alone, new residential properties worth 909.8 billion yuan were sold across the country, down from 941.2 billion yuan sold in October. The area of new home purchases, meanwhile, totaled 132.5 million square meters, almost unchanged from October.

In the first 11 months, investment in residential development around the country rose 6 percent year over year to 6.25 trillion yuan, 0.1 percentage point faster than the January-October period, the bureau's data showed.

(Source: shanghaidaily.com  Author: Cao Qian)