House prices in China slumped at the fastest rate in almost 10 years in May as a glut of properties on the market hit demand, despite renewed efforts by the government to prop up the sector.

The price of new homes in 70 cities, excluding subsidised housing, fell by 0.7% from April. This was the steepest drop since October 2014, according to National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) figures posted on Monday. Values of existing homes fell by 1%, the steepest drop since China started using its current data collection method in 2011...

China’s ailing property market reflects struggles in the wider economy. Industrial output grew more slowly in May at 5.6% compared with 6.7% a year earlier. Economists were expecting growth of about 6%.