China's second-tier city new home prices stabilize in Sept

China's second-tier city new home prices were flat month on month in September, ending two consecutive months of decline. The stabilization remains narrow, however: across 70 large and medium-sized cities, 17 recorded price increases, 4 were flat and 49 declined, while first-tier cities rose 0.1% and third-tier cities fell 0.2%.

Industry sources attribute the improvement to a handful of well-received improvement-oriented launches rather than a broad demand recovery. Developers accelerated approvals to pre-sell ahead of local implementation rules under the August 28 housing sales notice, lifting September new supply in 50 key cities by 97.4% month on month and