Hello everyone, welcome to “News Perspective”, I am Xin Li.
Today’s focus: Federal Reserve Cuts Rates by 50 Basis Points, Economy Steadily Growing! Mainland China Delay Retirement “Work Slaves” Suffer in Silence; Tsinghua Professor Criticizes CCP for Not Taking Responsibility for Pension Issues, why Should they Have Unlimited Power?
On Wednesday (the 18th), the Federal Reserve announced that it would cut the federal funds rate target range by 50 basis points to a level between 4.75% and 5.00%. This is the first rate cut by the Fed since 2020.
The White House immediately issued a statement stating: The significant rate cut by the Fed indicates that the US economy is steadily growing.
Fed Chairman Powell stated that this rate cut will help maintain stability in the economy and job market. He called this rate cut “the beginning of a process” and expects that there may be another 50 basis points cut by the end of this year.
Analysis from Agence France-Presse: The 50 basis point rate cut by the Fed will alleviate the burden on the US public economically and may objectively benefit Democratic candidate Harris.
This decision by the Fed was made at its last meeting before the US election on November 5.
During the Mid-Autumn Festival holiday from September 15th to 17th, several real estate research institutions in China released key city real estate transaction data on Wednesday (the 18th). Despite various promotional measures taken by real estate developers in first and second-tier cities, the market response was lukewarm with minimal effect.
Data shows that the daily sales area of new homes in 25 representative cities decreased by about 29% compared to the same period last year. In 12 monitored cities, 1670 new homes were sold, averaging 557 units per day, marking the lowest level since 2018 and a 43.2% decline from the daily sales during the Mid-Autumn and National Day holidays in 2023. From September 1st to 12th, in 30 key cities, there was a 6% decrease in new home sales compared to the first 12 days of August and an 18% year-on-year decrease.
In fact, many cities carried out promotional activities for the Mid-Autumn Festival. Guangzhou had over 40 properties offering discounts and special offers, leading to a slight increase in market popularity and visits, but transactions remained sluggish. The daily transaction area decreased by 65%, with a total transaction area of about 14,000 square meters, making it the worst-performing among the four first-tier cities.
The Shenzhen government also introduced support measures such as renovation subsidies for buying houses, but the real estate market has yet to recover. The daily transaction area for new homes decreased by 7%, with a total transaction area of 12,000 square meters.
In Shanghai, the daily transaction area of new homes decreased by 17%, but the luxury housing market showed some vitality. The average price of the Cuihu Phase Six project reached as…