China's February new home prices extend declines

China's new home prices dropped for an eighth straight month in February, official data showed on Friday, despite a slew of measures to shore up the fragile property sector.

New home prices fell 0.3 per cent month-on-month, in line with January's decline, according to Reuters calculations based on National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data.

On a year-on-year basis, prices fell 1.4 per cent, faster than the 0.7 per cent drop in January and the biggest decline in 13 months.

The property sector has lurched from one crisis to another since 2021 after a regulatory crackdown on developers' high leverage led to a liquidity crisis.

So far, authorities have not rolled out massive stimulus to support developers, but have instead taken incremental steps to revive the sector.

Premier Li Qiang in his government work report to the parliament earlier in March, vowed to stabilise a property sector with targeted measures while providing financing to "justified" projects.

China in January launched a "white list" mechanism, ordering state banks to boost lending to residential projects. More big cities including Shanghai and Shenzhen have also eased purchase curbs to lure homebuyers.