China housing market slowing further

AP has a report out today discussing further slowing, if not significant weakness, in the housing market in China. China reports that housing sales declined 8% in the first quarter and unsold housing inventory rose to a five-year high.

What’s the point? The slowdown in the Chinese economy has been a concern for investors for over a year now. Interestingly, it this has not deterred a rise in the U.S. stock market but it remains a lingering concern because of China’s growing global economic clout. The current consensus thinking on China’s GDP growth is now slowing to a 6%-7% sustainable rate, much lower than several years ago. The Chinese government is attempting to slow the economy and credit expansion to avoid the risk of a bubble and subsequent implosion of the economy. It remains to be seen if this can be accomplished without inducing outright recession in China and this is what concerns many investors today.

Link: http://money.msn.com/business-news/article.aspx?feed=AP&date=20140613&id=17698427