TWO of China’s biggest cities posted a jump in home transactions, following the latest policy easing efforts to improve sector sentiment. The transaction area of Shanghai’s second-hand homes rose 25.7% from Dec. 15 to Dec. 18, compared with the previous week, according to an HSBC Holdings report Wednesday. The average daily sales of new home units in the city rose nearly 41%, while that of Beijing jumped 122%. “Faster turnover on secondary homes may boost new home transactions as it facilitates demand for upgrading homes,” HSBC economists said in the report. Beijing and Shanghai reduced down payment ratios and eased the threshold for some types of housing to be qualified for lower mortgages. Last week, new home sales in 30 major cities increased by 6% compared with the previous week, with sales in top cities driving the growth, the report said. However, transactions in smaller so-called tier-three cities remained low. Sales figures in the subsequent weeks will provide a better gauge on whether the slew of policies can ameliorate the property slump. Home sales petered out in less than two weeks after regulators introduced measures to stimulate the market in August. (SD-Agencies) | 