In July this year, of 70 major Chinese cities surveyed, new house prices in first-tier cities edged down by 0.5 percent month on month, maintaining the same declining pace compared to the month-on-month decline seen in June this year, while decreasing by 4.2 percent year on year, 0.5 percentage point higher compared to the decrease in June, as announced by China's National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). China’s real estate industry continued to show a poor performance in July, which may exert a negative impact on the demand for steel in the near future.
In China’s second-tier cities, prices of second-hand houses in July saw a year-on-year decline of 8.2 percent, with the pace of the decline 0.3 percentage points higher compared to that recorded in June. In third-tier cities, second-hand house prices in June saw a year-on-year decrease of 8.1 percent, with the pace of the decrease 0.4 percentage points higher compared to that recorded in June.