China's Home Prices, Property Investment Continued to Fall -- Update

The decline in China's home prices showed signs of narrowing in April, but the overall picture of the country's real-estate sector remained bleak.

Home prices in the country's 70 biggest cities fell 0.19% in April from the prior month, compared with the 0.21% drop in March, according to calculations by The Wall Street Journal based on data released Monday by the National Bureau of Statistics.

Of the 70 cities, 49 reported a month-over-month decline last month, down from 54 cities in March.

On an annual basis, home prices in these cities declined 3.7% in April, worsening slightly from the 3.6% fall in March. Sixty-five cities reported year-over-year price declines, the same as the month prior.

In the first four months of 2026, home prices in the 70 cities dropped 3.5% from the previous year.

Data released Monday also showed that China's property investment continued to slump, suggesting that the yearslong real-estate malaise is far from over.

Property investment dropped 13.7% from a year ago in January to April, while construction starts fell 22.0% during the same period. Home sales by value slid 14.6% during the first four months of the year.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

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