China39;s new home prices fell both in monthly and annual terms
More cities registered home price falls

BEIJING, March 15 Reuters China39;s new home prices dropped for an eighth straight month in February, official data showed on Friday, suggesting the fragile property market is struggling to find a bottom despite a slew of measures to shore up the sector.

New home prices fell 0.3 monthonmonth, in line with January39;s decline, according to Reuters calculations based on National Bureau of Statistics NBS data.

On a yearonyear basis, prices fell 1.4, faster than the 0.7 drop in January and the biggest decline in 13 months.

The property sector has lurched from one crisis to another since 2021 after a regulatory crackdown on developers39; high leverage led to a liquidity crisis.

So far, authorities have not rolled out massive stimulus to support developers, but have instead taken incremental steps to revive the sector but to limited effect.

Analysts attributed the price declines to a slow season and disruptions caused by the eightday Lunar New Year break.

It will take time for demand, home buyers39; income and confidence to recover this year, said Zhang Dawei, an analyst at property company Centaline, who expects prices in firsttier cities to grow slightly in March.

China in January launched a whitelist mechanism that orders state banks to boost lending to residential projects. More big cities including Shanghai and Shenzhen have also eased purchase curbs to lure…