China property prices accelerated in March: BBVA

Policy concerns building up as a result.

According to BBVA estimates, national housing price increases accelerated in March to 3.4% y/y from 2.4% in February, based on monthly price data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

"On a sequential basis, we estimate an increase of 1.5% m/m nsa in March (vs. 1.4% in February)," it said.

New home prices rose in 68 of the 70 cities surveyed by the NBS. The price increases continue to be led by major tier 1 cities including Guangzhou, Beijing, Shenzhen and Shanghai, where prices increases were on the order of 6-10% y/y.

BBVA said the data may renew worries about policy tightening, only days after a soft Q1 GDP outturn (7.7% y/y) and benign inflation (2.1% y/y) had alleviated those concerns.