REAL estate prices in China are in no condition to rebound with the government firmly set to continue regulating the property market, said the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.

Despite a rise in sales in recent months, speculative buying is still under control, and both property prices and housing inventories have remained at a stable level, a ministry official was quoted by yesterday's People's Daily, the flagship newspaper of the Communist Party of China, as saying.

The recent rebound in home-buying activities is due to higher demand that had been suppressed and by an increase of new housing supply and lower loan rates, said the official, whose name was not provided by the newspaper.

Though expectations of price rises have spurred some rush-buying in June and July, in general, most house buyers are looking for starter homes instead of speculative deals, said the official, who expects the completion of more affordable housing will further stabilize market expectations.

In August, the government tried to curb the bounce-back of sales by reiterating its firm stance on property tightening, which has started to pay off, the official said. Meanwhile, new commercial properties that started construction fell 11.1 percent from the same period last year, down 2.3 percentage points from the January-July level.

But the official also noted that negative factors do exist against a stable property market, and that regulation over the sector is still at a crucial stage.

滬江英語快訊：讓老百姓可以吃顆放心丸的還有標(biāo)準(zhǔn)普爾發(fā)布的最新報(bào)告，報(bào)告顯示過去六個(gè)月中國房地產(chǎn)業(yè)由于流動(dòng)性增強(qiáng)和銷售量增加，房地產(chǎn)開發(fā)商信用和整體行業(yè)狀況有所改善，但前景仍不容樂觀，預(yù)期下半年中國住宅樓價(jià)平均再跌5%。經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家馬光遠(yuǎn)特別建議，要減少老百姓對房地產(chǎn)市場的擔(dān)心，調(diào)控政策執(zhí)行到位尤為重要。