China's property slump deepens

New Delhi, Nov 15 (IANS) China's property slump has deepened, official data showed, with new home prices seeing their biggest month-on-month decline since 2015, the BBC reported.

New construction starts in January to October also fell 7.7 per cent, compared to a year earlier.

The country's property market has been shaken in recent months as real estate giant Evergrande struggles to keep up interest payments on its huge debts, the report said.

China has also been hit by a new wave of Covid cases and major power cuts.

The 0.2 per cent drop in new home prices in October was the biggest fall seen in China since February 2015, the report added.

It also marks the first decline in new home prices since March 2015.

Sentiment in China's property market, which accounts for about a quarter of the country's economic activity by some measures, has been rocked as major property developers grapple with huge debts, the report said.

The industry has come under intense scrutiny as fears continue over the future of companies including real estate giant Evergrande.

Other Chinese home builders have also struggled to find the money to make debt repayments.

Shares of developer Fantasia plunged by 50 per cent last week after it said there was no guarantee it would be able to meet its other financial obligations following a missed payment of $205.7 million in October, the report said.

And earlier this month, trading in shares of Kaisa Group and three of its units was halted in Hong Kong after one of its businesses missed a payment on a wealth management product.