China moves to spark housing market; Eco data paints mixed picture

(Sharecast News) - The Chinese central bank moved again to help the struggling property sector on Friday by relaxing lending rules, as data showed house prices in major cities fell last month, while industrial production and retail sales data painted a more mixed economic picture. First-time buyers will now have to put down a minimum 15% deposit from a previous 20%, the People's Bank of China (PboC) said. Minimum interest rates on mortgages were also scrapped.

The property sector has been creaking due to massive oversupply of apartments that now lie empty. The ruling Communist Party said it would allow local government authorities to buy some homes at "reasonable" prices to provide affordable housing, Vice Premier He Lifeng told an online meeting on housing policy on Friday, state news agency Xinhua reported.

In a separate data dump, industrial production in the world's second-largest economy rose more than expected in April to 6.7% year on year, according to official data from the National Bureau of Statistics. The rise beat forecast of 5.5% and March's 4.5% increase.

However, it was a different picture on the retail sales front, where 2.3% growth from April last year was well below the forecast 3.7%.

Fixed asset investment rose 4.2% for the first four months of the year, lower than the 4.6% expected increase.