New Delhi, Nov. 13 -- Sales during China's largest online shopping festival, Singles' Day, jumped almost 18% from a year earlier but the pace of growth slowed as bargain hunters opted for more affordable deals.

Consumers have been tightening their belts, spending cautiously due to a prolonged slump in the property market, lagging wages and high unemployment among the young Chinese who usually would be most likely to splurge on online purchases.

Chinese retail data provider Syntun said Wednesday that the estimated combined sales value for this year's online retail bonanza, the country's equivalent to Black Friday and Cyber Monday when e-commerce giants offer deep discounts, reached almost 1.7 trillion yuan ($238 billion).

The almost 18%...