China's largest home developer China Vanke Co realized sales growth in May, indicating a slightly warmer property market after two years of cooling.

Sales in May hit 10.72 billion yuan ($1.68 billion) for Vanke, up 44.1 percent compared with last month and 19 percent compared with the same period last year.

As the largest residential house developer in China, Vanke's sale is deemed as a barometer of China's property market.

Centaline China Property Research's monitoring data of 30 key cities showed that in May the turnover area of newly built residential property grew 28 percent year-on-year, a 20 percent increase compared with a month earlier.

It is expected to be the highest since last January when Chinese cities rolled out their restrictions on property purchasing one after another, resulting in a slump in turnover and price.

Market observers said the new rise in turnover is mainly caused by the interest rate cut for first-time house buyers.

Ge Ling, director of Centaline China Property Research said that the trim in the interest rate encouraged some first-time house buyers to bring forward their purchasing.

House prices also showed a downward trend, although the scale is minor.

China Real Estate Index System's monitoring data showed that in May, house prices in 100 Chinese cities decreased year-on-year for the second month. But the drop rate narrowed compared with last month.

In April, average house prices dropped by 0.34 percent, while in May the figure was 0.31 percent.

zhengyangpeng@chinadaily.com.cn