Charts of the Day: China’s Latest Policy Support Boosts Home Sales, but Briefly

The rebound in China’s home sales following the government’s recent measures to revive the market appears to have been short-lived, as transactions are now falling back again.

Contracted property sales by floor space in 19 large and midsize cities plunged almost 30% in the week ending Sept. 10 compared with the previous seven-day period, the biggest week-on-week drop since Aug. 6, according to iFinD, a Chinese economic information provider. The decline compares with a jump of 10.8% in the week ending Sept. 3. Although the data cover commercial property as well as residential housing, homes accounted for some 90% of the country’s property sales by value in the first seven months of the year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.