(Yicai) July 1 -- New home sales by China's top 100 developers rose 36 percent last month from May mainly thanks to new measure to support the country’s real estate market.

The developers sold CNY438.9 billion (USD60.4 billion) of properties in June, data from consulting firm China Residence Information Circle showed yesterday. That was down about 16.7 percent from a year earlier, compared with declines of 30 percent to 40 percent in previous months.

China Overseas Land & Investment topped the list, achieving sales of CNY46.6 billion (USD6.4 billion), the most for a single month in nearly a year. 

Favorable policies introduced nationwide in May, as well as those taken by the Shanghai government, shored up the property market at the end of that month and in June, an executive at a state-owned builder in East China told Yicai.

These stimulus policies lifted market confidence, said Liu Shui, director of corporate research at the China Index Academy. Activity in first-tier and core second-tier cities will likely continue in the near term, supporting the national market, Liu added.

On May 17, China’s central bank abolished the floor on mortgage rates, lowered the minimum downpayment to 15 percent on first homes and 25 percent on second homes, and cut individual housing provident fund rates by 0.25 percentage point, with major Chinese cities following suit. In addition, home trade-ins schemes and other initiatives have been gradually implemented.

Nearly 60 percent of the leading 100 developers grew their monthly sales in June, while almost 30 percent achieved annual growth, according to data from Shanghai Yihan Business Consulting.

The combined sales of the top 100 fell 40 percent to CNY1.85 trillion (USD254.5 billion) in the six months ended June 30 from a year ago, with the decline narrowing 4.7 points, according to CRIC. 

The housing market has shown some recovery following policy efforts, said Yu Xiaoyu, research director at Yihan Business Consulting. But uncertainty remains around its sustainability, You said, with performance this month and next, traditionally a slow season, relatively more important, and further observation is still needed.

Editor: Martin Kadiev