China residential land prices edge up at slower pace

BEIJING -- China's residential land prices continued to rise in the third quarter, but at a slower pace compared with the same period last year, a recent report released by the Ministry of Land and Resources shows.

Land prices in the 105 cities monitored by the ministry gained 1.77 percent year on year to 3,093 yuan ($494.56) per square meter during the July-September period, among which residential land averaged 4,564 yuan per sq m, an increase of 1.03 percent from a year earlier, the report said.

The growth rate of residential land prices in the third quarter was down 0.74 percentage point from the previous quarter, marking the fifth straight quarter of decline, according to the report.

But as a sign of a warming land market, more cities saw land prices climb in the third quarter from the second quarter, the report said.

The report forecast increasing land supplies and demand for the fourth quarter, as local governments will speed up sales to ensure the long-term stability of the property sector, while developers will start to purchase as their stockpiles fall.

After taking a blow from the government's severe policy to curb soaring housing prices last year, China's property market has gradually warmed up in recent months, prompting once-reluctant developers to grab more land.

The report predicted "more vigor" in land transactions in the fourth quarter but ruled out the possibility of big price changes due to increases in both supply and demand.