China’s top 100 developers see property sales slide at slower pace in Jan, further recovery expected after holiday – research
China’s top 100 developers see property sales slide at slower pace in Jan, further recovery expected after holiday – research

China’s top 100 developers see property sales slide at slower pace in Jan, further recovery expected after holiday – research

The total sales of the Top 100 property developers in China reached 235.03 billion yuan in January, a year-on-year decline of 16.5%, according to data compiled by real estate research firm China Index Academy.

The Spring Festival holiday that started in late January somewhat dampened sales, leading to a year-on-year decline, though significantly narrowing from the over 30% drop in 2024, said the academy.

Five developers saw their January sales exceed 10 billion yuan, fewer than 7 in the same period last year, and 8 developers saw sales exceed 5 billion yuan last month, in line with a year earlier, per the data.

Sales of developers of various tiers declined across the board, though narrowing to varying degrees. Specifically, the average sales of the Top 10 developers amounted to 10.56 billion yuan, sliding by 11.8% from the previous year; the average sales of the Top 11-30 developers were 3.49 billion yuan, down 16.5%; the average sales of the Top 31-50 developers were 1.31 billion yuan, down 31.3%; and the average sales of the Top 51-100 developers were 670 million yuan, down 17.3%, showed the data.

Influenced by the Spring Festival holiday, the transaction volumes of both new and second-hand homes in core cities fell month-on-month in January, with the year-on-year growth in second-hand home transactions narrowing.

The market continues to exhibit a trend of “lowering price to boost volume”, with some recovery in transaction volumes expected after the holiday.

For the first quarter, the overall year-on-year comparison of new home transactions is expected to remain stable due to the low base effect and for second-hand homes, as prices in some communities gradually adjust and owner expectations in core cities improve, transaction volumes are expected to maintain a certain scale driven by price cuts and improving expectations, though sustained market stabilization will still require stronger policy support, said the academy.