China’s attempts to cool its overheated property market appear to be working, with many analysts forecasting a housing market slowdown in 2017 — but stagnant prices are likely to bring problems for other parts of the world’s second-largest economy.
Data released on Friday showed that price growth had slowed sharply in top-tier cities such as Beijing and Shanghai. For the first time in two years, prices grew more slowly in such cities than in the overall urban market, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
The data seemed to vindicate official measures announced last month to restrain individuals from buying homes and developers from borrowing money.