China's property price growth to slow despite better sales

    Moody's Investors Service said that China's property price growth will slow further, despite an expected improvement in property sales for the rest of 2014.
  "We expect national contracted sales for the rest of 2014 to improve moderately, supported by a greater number of new project launches, an increase in mortgage availability, and the selective loosening of home purchase restrictions," said Gerwin Ho, a Moody's Vice President and Senior Analyst.
  Ho was speaking on the release of Moody's latest monthly China Property Focus.
  Total contracted sales for China's residential property market extended its falling streak, declining by 10.5% year-on-year to RMB2.99 trillion for the first seven months of 2014 compared to RMB3.34 trillion for the same period last year.
  Moody's expects property sales will moderately recover, mainly driven by volume in the coming months. The 12-month trailing contracted sales will see a modest 0%-5% year-over-year growth rate over the next 12 months.
  "Some cities, such as Foshan in Guangdong and Zhengzhou in Henan, have selectively loosened their regulatory guidelines on home purchase restrictions, or relaxed the execution of these restrictions," Ho said.