China’s real estate stocks suffered a sharp decline today as reports showed a drop in home sales during the recent Lunar New Year holiday. This signals that China still faces challenges in resolving its real estate crisis.
According to the China Real Estate Information Corp, which tracks house prices in 40 major cities in China, the real estate stock index fell 3% on Monday and the property sector dropped by 3%. During the Lunar New Year week, housing sales fell by 14%.
The week-long holiday served as a gauge of housing demand, especially after the Chinese authorities rolled out a plan to address the housing market crisis in November 2022.
United First Partners, the head of Asia research, noted that the decline in residential sales has further weakened investor sentiment. The decrease in housing sales remains a concern for the real estate industry in China.