China property sales to exhibit volatility in 4Q - Moody's

    Moody's Investors Service said that national property sales in China (Aa3 negative) likely reached a peak in September 2016 - in terms of sales value and growth - and should exhibit short-term volatility in Q4 2016, because of the further tightening measures introduced by the government in September and October 2016.
  "China's national residential sales in September of RMB1.16 trillion reached highest record of monthly sales so far this year. Moody's expects property sales growth to slow in Q4 2016, following the latest round of property curbs in October, " said Cindy Yang, a Moody's Analyst.
  However, most of our rated developers remain well positioned to achieve their full year sales targets - despite the tightening - based on their solid sales momentum during the nine months to 30 September 2016.
  "The additional restrictive measures introduced by the government will moderate property price growth in the cities where the control were tightened in September and October 2016," added Yang.
  Moody's conclusions were contained in the latest edition of its China Property Focus newsletter.
  Moody's report says that national contracted sales surged 43.2% year-on-year to RMB6.90 trillion during the nine months between January and September 2016 from RMB4.79 trillion over the same period in 2015. And, sales in September 2016 registered RMB1.16 trillion, representing the highest monthly sales figure so far this year.
  During September 2016, average property prices in first- and second-tier cities saw strong growth, rising at a year-on-year growth rate of 31.9% and 13.2%, respectively, compared to 30.5% and 10.6% in August 2016. The robust price growth triggered the regulatory tightening in September and October 2016.