Home prices in July from 70 major Chinese cities will be released later today.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows that home prices declined in 55 of those cities in June, with prices overall down half a percent.
Analysts are expecting prices to decline further. On Friday, a draft version of rules for a property registration system was released, a step that would help the government track home ownership.
Such rules have been widely anticipated and should discourage speculative home-buying practices.
It is also seen as a step toward the rollout of a property tax, currently implemented only on a trial basis in the major Chinese cities of Shanghai and Chongqing.
The 10-page document, issued by the State Council, includes details regarding information sharing and protection, as well as recommendations to simplify the registration process.
For more on the property sector here in China, we are joined on the line by Mike Bastin, Visiting Professor at China's University of International Business and Economics.
