China sees fall in home prices

SHANGHAI, Mar 19 (AFP): China's efforts to cool its red-hot real estate market showed signs of working in February, as government data Friday showed more cities seeing a fall in house prices from the previous month. The figures could mean Beijing will hold off any further measures to rein in prices in the near term, analysts said, after a series of measures over recent months. The cost of a newly built home in eight of the 70 major cities tracked fell in February from January, the National Bureau of Statistics said. Just three cities had shown a decline in January. While prices in 68 cities rose last month from February 2010, analysts said the month-on-month data showed official measures to rein in soaring house prices were kicking in. "The administrative measures are taking effect.