Real estate analysts have forecast that the Chinese government will introduce further measures to cool its property market. Property price growth in the country slowed in March, but values were still up from a year earlier, the latest figures from the National Bureau of Statistics show.
Indeed, new home prices in Beijing rose 4.9 per cent in March from a year earlier, down from the 6.8 per cent increase in February. Elsewhere, in Shanghai, prices climbed 1.7 per cent last month, down from 2.3 per cent in February.
Central bank Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said monetary tightening is set to continue for a prolonged period of time.
"The turning point for home prices is getting closer and closer. The government is sending a strong signal to further tighten the liquidity and continue to control home prices," said Shen Jian-guang, a Hong Kong-based economist at Mizuho Securities Asia.
However, despite the prospect of further curbs to the market, property investment is still robust. According to Shen Minggao, head of China research at Citigroup, it is still too early to determine whether the cooling measures have had the desired effect.