Property-Investment Picture Brightens in China
Investment in property development in China picked up in May as a decline in housing sales narrowed amid a "fine-tuning" of market curbs, suggesting the market bottomed out in April. In floor area, property-construction starts were down 4. 6% to 183. 6 million square meters. 22 trillion yuan ($348. 4 billion), data released Saturday by the National Bureau of Statistics showed. Monthly overall property sales have been down from those of a year earlier since October. They come as local authorities slightly roll back some property-market curbs, part of a government effort to spur the economy that has included an interest-rate cut Thursday |