China Jan-May property investment falls 0.3% y/y

BEIJING, June 15 (Reuters) – China’s real estate investment fell 0.3% in January-May from a year earlier, official data showed on Monday, far less than in previous months as the economy gradually recovers from the impact of the coronavirus outbreak.

Real estate investment fell 3.3% in January-April, but quickened in the month of April.

Property sales by floor area fell 12.3%, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, compared with 19.3% from a year earlier in the first four months of the year

The property market is a key driver of growth in the world’s second-largest economy, and was among many segments of the economy hit hard by the coronavirus epidemic.

New construction starts measured by floor area fell 12.8% from a year earlier, compared with an 18.4% fall in the first four months of year.

Funds raised by China’s property developers fell 6.1% in the same period, compared with a 10.4% % drop for the first four months of 2020. (Reporting by Huizhong Wu and Yawen Chen; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)