Beijing housing sales slump 30 pct

Beijing home sales fell at a slightly slower pace in the Jan.-July period as price declines drove potential home buyers to snap up bargains last month.

Real estate developers in the city sold 5.05 million square meters of housing during the first seven months of this year, down 30.3 percent year on year, the municipal bureau of statistics said in a statement Thursday. The decline for the first half of the year was 35.2 percent.

Housing starts edged 3.8 percent lower to 8.04 million square meters against the backdrop of a gloomy property market.

Sales of commercial buildings, which include residential and commercial property, fell 31.5 percent, compared with 34.8 percent for the first half. The sales reached 6.77 million square meters, it said.

China's property market remains weak prompting dozens of cities nationwide to lift three-year-old purchase limits in a bid to revive sales and boost the economy.

Nationwide, property sales witnessed a steeper decline in the Jan.-July period. Sales in terms of floor area dropped 7.6 percent year on year, 1.6 percentage points higher than the decline seen in the first half.