China's June new home prices rise at slowest pace in five months, survey shows

BEIJING (Reuters) - Prices of new homes in China climbed at their slowest pace in five months in June, a private survey showed on Monday, with a recent major government package of support measures for the country's ailing property sector having only a limited impact so far.

The average price for new homes across 100 cities edged up 0.15% month-on-month in June, weaker than a 0.25% gain in May, according to data from property researcher China Index Academy.

The value of new home sales at China's top 100 real estate companies slid 41.6% in January-June from the same period a year ago, it also said.

In May, Chinese authorities unveiled what they called a historic support package for the property sector that has been hit hard by a liquidity crunch since 2021 with many firms defaulting on debt.

The package further cut downpayment requirements and removed the floor for mortgage rates. Local governments can also now instruct state-owned firms (SOEs) to purchase completed unsold apartments from property developers and convert them into social housing.

The China Index Academy data also showed the average price of second-hand homes across 100 cities fell 0.73% in June from a month earlier, the 26th straight month of declines.

(Reporting by Liangping Gao and Ryan Woo; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)