Charts of the Day: China’s Sinking Land Sales

China’s real estate developers acquired less land in the first two months of 2019 than in the same period last year, marking the steepest decline since early 2009.

Over the first two months of this year, property developers acquired 15.5 million square meters (166.8 million square feet) of land, a 34.1% year-on-year drop, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The volume of land sold nationwide hadn’t suffered that steep a drop since the first three months of 2009.

The NBS does not release monthly data for land sales, but rather cumulative monthly data, such as that for the first two months or the first three months of any given year.

In addition, the value of land deals over the first two months of the year fell 13.1% year-on-year to 69 billion yuan ($10.3 billion), marking the biggest decline since 2015.

In addition, mortgage rates fell in February in second-tier cities such as Hangzhou and Nanjing, according to data from online financial service platform Rong360.com. The drop in mortgage rates indicates that banks are making greater effort to entice homebuyers as the housing market cools due to government restrictions and economic headwinds.

Contact reporter Timmy Shen (hongmingshen@caixin.com)