AsianFin--New home sales in China continued to decline last month, but the rate of decrease has significantly slowed since earlier in the year, following the relaxation of real estate market policies in May.

The value of new homes sold by the top 100 developers fell by 19.7% in July year-on-year, reaching 279.1 billion yuan (US$ 38.6 billion), according to data from the CRIC Research Center. This compares to a 16.7% decline in June. Previous months saw declines ranging from 30% to 40%.

On May 17, the central bank abolished the floor on mortgage rates, lowered the minimum downpayment to 15% for first homes and 25% for second homes, and reduced individual housing provident fund rates by 0.25 percentage points. Major Chinese cities have since followed suit. Additionally, home trade-in schemes and other initiatives have been gradually implemented.