After 28 years of full-throttle growth, China’s automobile industry will finally stall this year.

Growth in the world’s biggest new car market will decelerate for the first time in almost three decades in 2018 and will enter a slump lasting two to three years, said Wang Yongqing, the boss of General Motors Co.’s joint venture in China at an industry event in Guangzhou yesterday.

The slowdown comes as house prices eat into the cash supply for other high-cost items, Wang said, adding that while sales at the start of 2018 had started out strong, the growth engine started to flag from April onwards with a real drop hitting from June onwards. He expects wholesale sales of new passenger cars will drop by between 3.5% to 4.6% year on year this year, with actual retail sales falling by more than 5%.