China’s home sales saw ‘golden week’ spurts. Are they enough to save the market?
Transactions of new homes jumped 27 per cent from a year earlier across 25 Chinese cities tracked by the China Index Academy. Showroom visits rose by at least 50 per cent compared with 2023, as 130 cities in 20 provinces held promotional sales during the so-called Golden Week, the state broadcaster CGTN said, citing the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development.
Optimism was most apparent in the biggest cities, which are considered the bellwether of the industry. Shenzhen, dubbed “China’s Silicon Valley” for its cluster of technology companies from BYD to DJI and Huawei Technologies, reported a 10-fold jump in new-home sales in the week that ended on September 30, according to Centaline Property Agency, one of the largest agencies in Hong Kong.
Showrooms were also packed in Beijing and Shanghai, prompting some developers to extend their opening hours so they could cater to the increasing number of visitors, local media outlets reported.
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Days earlier, Chinese authorities unveiled a slew of measures to stimulate consumption, investment, and property sales. The People’s Bank of China instructed lenders to cut mortgage rates by half a percentage point and reduce the down payment for second homes to 15 per cent from 25 per cent. Four tier-one cities – Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen – relaxed home-purchase rules to spur sales.