Jul. 17, 2012 (China Knowledge) - The sales of properties developed by China's real estate companies decreased 5.2% YoY to RMB 2.33 trillion in the first six months of this year, narrowing from a 9.1% decline in the first five months, according to the latest statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The country's sales of residential properties declined 6.5% YoY to RMB 1.93 trillion during the six-month period, and sales of office properties fell 1.1% to RMB 103.9 billion. Sales of properties for commercial purpose rose 5.4% to RMB 255 billion.

Property sales in East China saw a decline of 7.2% YoY, hitting RMB 1.41 trillion. Property sales in Central China rose 1.1% YoY to RMB 438.8 billion, and sales in West China dropped 4.5% to RMB 479.7 billion.

Real estate developers in China sold 399.64 million square meters of properties during the period from January to June, down 10.0% compared with the corresponding period of 2011. 
 
The NBS said the country's investment in the property development saw a slower growth of 16.6% YoY to RMB 3.06 trillion in the first six months, of which RMB 2.09 trillion was for residential property development, 12.0% more than that in the same period of last year.