MKsport North China's Shanxi Province, on June 17, 2024. Photo: VCG" src="https://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0/attachment/2024/2024-10-07/442ba965-0c67-403d-b2ce-1e10be2bfba6.jpeg" />

People view the sandbox model of a real estate project in Taiyuan, North China's Shanxi Province, on June 17, 2024. Photo: VCG

Home prices in first-tier Chinese cities rose again in January on a monthly basis, official data showed on Wednesday. The data indicated that the housing market remains on a stable recovery trend since the last quarter of 2024, an analyst said. 

According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), new and resold home prices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen each rose by 0.1 percent month-on-month.

Among the 70 large and medium-sized cities, 24 recorded monthly increases in new home prices, up from 23 in December, while seven saw gains in resold home prices, down from nine the previous month. 

Notably, new home prices in second-tier cities increased by 0.1 percent in January, marking their first rise since June 2023, the NBS data showed.

The data indicated that stability in home prices, observed since Q4 2024, continues in the property market, with increasing signs of recovery as price stability boosts market expectations, Yan Yuejin, research director at Shanghai-based E-house China R&D Institute, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Yan said that the improving signs reflect the precision and effectiveness of support policies introduced since late September, garnering positive market responses and improved confidence. 

The country has introduced a series of policies to stimulate economic growth. Since late September 2024, the central government has unveiled a package of milestone macroeconomic measures, aimed at strengthening counter-cyclical adjustments, boosting domestic demand, supporting businesses, reviving the property market, and revitalizing capital markets.

"The shift from decline to growth in housing prices in first- and second-tier cities is a major signal, which will bolster market expectations and contribute to the sector's healthy development," he said.