China’s first interest-rate cut since 2012 is set to halt a slide in property sales, reducing developers’ stock of unsold homes that has weighed on prices. The central bank’s surprise reduction in its benchmark rate on Nov. 21 adds to discounts of as much as 12 percent on mortgages banks are already offering to first-home buyers, according to SouFun Holdings Ltd. China’s home sales and prices have declined this year after four years of property curbs to stem speculation. Sales slumped 10 percent in the first 10 months from a year earlier and prices fell in all but one of the 70 cities tracked by the government in the ... (full story)