After a two-month decline, the pre-owned housing market staged a positive growth month-on-month for home prices in January. — Reuters
SHANGHAI: The Spring Festival holiday, normally a slow season for home sales in China, has seen transactions pick up for pre-owned homes in some major Chinese cities, which experts say signals a potential rebound in the sector.
In the 50 key cities tracked by Beike Research Institute, trade volume of existing homes soared 57% year-on-year during the holiday, and sales in terms of traded area recorded in the first 27 days of January approached that of the previous month, according to the research institute of KE Holdings Inc, a housing transaction and services platform.
Among them, transactions in four major cities situated in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region – Beijing, Langfang, Tianjin and Shijiazhuang – continued their recovery after December, with total sales already surpassing December’s total, it added.
Similar recovery signals appeared in terms of visits made by potential homebuyers to check apartments.
Beike said visits made to existing homes rose 28% in the 50 cities. Visits in Chengdu, Sichuan province, and Chongqing increased by 1.5 times and 100%, respectively, while those in Shenzhen, Guangdong province soared 86%, said Li Yujia, chief researcher at the Guangdong Planning Institute’s residential policy research centre.
“Apparently, potential homebuyers are becoming active again,” Li said.
After a two-month decline, the pre-owned housing market staged a positive growth month-on-month for home prices in January.
Average trading prices in 100 major Chinese cities edged up 0.15% to 15,697 yuan (US$2,320 or RM9,870) per sq metre, said the Zhuge Real Estate Data Research Centre, a market tracker.
The mild recovery is attributable to the optimised Covid-19 response and a handful of supportive measures announced at the end of last year, which helped boost homebuyer confidence, said Chen Xiao, senior analyst with the centre.
Although pre-owned home trading prices were still below the average level of the previous year, meagre growth is projected to appear in February, Chen said.
Amid the rising activity in the pre-owned housing market, the new home sector has yet to show signs of a nascent recovery.
New home transaction volume remained at a low level during the week between Jan 21 and last Friday, down about 21% from the same period of last year, although visits made to home projects in major cities including Beijing, Hangzhou in Zhejiang province, Xi’an in Shaanxi province, and Chengdu saw a year-on-year growth, said the China Index Academy. — China Daily/ANN
