Covid-19: China’s Property Market Witnesses Renewed Growth

China’s property market has seen a strong recovery after a tough year in 2022, as the economy logged an expansion at the beginning of 2023.

This comes just as the world second largest economy put in place, different policies to shore up the sector, following a slump in 2022 due to Covid-19 restrictions.

In the Jan.-Feb. period, signals indicated rising confidence on both ends of supply and demand of the market, known to be a strong “pillar” of China’s economy, with its added value accounting for 6.1 percent of the country’s gross domestic product last year.

To reinforce the trend of stable growth in the sector, China is setting out to optimize structure on the supply side to defuse risks and address the pressing needs of key groups on the side of demand.

In February, 55 out of 70 large and medium-sized cities saw month-on-month increases in new home prices, up from 36 in January, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

Meanwhile, 40 cities witnessed higher resale home prices, up from 13 in the previous month.

Warming signs were also seen on the second-hand market as prices went up 0.7 percent and 0.1 percent month on month in first and second-tier cities, respectively, while such prices remained flat in third-tier cities to end a losing streak.

“The effect of government policies to stabilize the property market gradually appeared, and the housing demand was further unleashed,” said NBS Senior Statistician Sheng Guoqing

Ni Hong, minister of housing and urban-rural development, told media during the country’s “two sessions” earlier this month that he “has full confidence in the steady recovery of China’s property market. China’s optimized anti-epidemic response has benefited both the supply and demand side by promoting work resumption of real estate projects and stimulating demand,” he said.

The country’s commercial housing sales reversed the streak of decline for 13 months in January and February this year.

Xinhua/Hauwa Abu