Falling Sales Offer Few Signs of End to China’s Property Slump
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Construction cranes tower over a high-rise development in October 2024 in Huaian, East China’s Jiangsu province. Photo: VCG
Falling property sales over the first five months of 2025 show how China’s economically important real estate market remained stuck in a slump this year despite signs of heat in the markets in higher-tier cities.
Cumulative sales of China’s top 100 property developers from January to May fell 7.1% year-on-year to 1.3 trillion yuan ($180.4 billion), accelerating from the 6.7% drop for the January-to-April period, according to figures published Saturday by China Real Estate Information Corp. (CRIC). The CRIC report measures sales from projects directly managed by the top 100 developers, excluding projects including those run by external partners.
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- China’s top 100 property developers saw cumulative sales drop 7.1%–10.8% year-on-year to 1.3–1.4 trillion yuan in January–May 2025; May sales fell further despite minor month-on-month gains.
- Sales in major cities like Shanghai showed signs of strength, with some projects selling out rapidly, while third- and fourth-tier cities faced oversupply and weak demand.
- Analysts expect market divergence to persist and suggest targeted government policies to address supply-demand imbalances, with continued accommodative policy anticipated in June.
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Who’s Who
- China Real Estate Information Corp.
- China Real Estate Information Corp. (CRIC) is a company that provides data and analysis on China’s property market. In this article, CRIC tracks and reports cumulative and monthly property sales from the country’s top 100 property developers, specifically measuring sales from projects directly managed by these developers and excluding those overseen by external partners. Their data is frequently cited in real estate industry reports.
- China Index Holdings Ltd.
- China Index Holdings (CIH) Ltd. is an industry data provider mentioned in the article. It tracks and reports on property developer sales in China, including both in-house and outsourced project sales. According to their recent data, total sales by China’s top 100 property developers dropped 10.8% year-on-year in the first five months of 2025, and May alone saw a 17.3% year-on-year decrease.
- Greentown China Holdings Ltd.
- Greentown China Holdings Ltd. is mentioned in the article as a developer whose local subsidiary sold all 120 units of a residential project in Shanghai on the same day the project was put on the market. The homes sold for 195,000 yuan per square meter, generating nearly 7 billion yuan in revenue, illustrating strong demand in higher-tier cities despite the national property market slump.
- EH Consulting
- EH Consulting is a real estate industry research institute in China. According to the article, their Saturday report noted that demand is heating up in cities like Shanghai, where several residential projects sold out in a single day in May. EH Consulting also recommended shifting from broad-based stimulus to more targeted, nuanced regulation to better balance supply and demand across different parts of China’s property market.
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What Happened When
- Before 2025：
- Sales of 1.3 trillion yuan in the first five months of 2025 are less than 30% of the total made over the first five months of 2021, before the slump began.
- January to April 2025：
- Cumulative sales of China’s top 100 property developers fell 6.7% year-on-year according to CRIC.
- January to May 2025：
- Cumulative sales of China’s top 100 property developers fell 7.1% year-on-year to 1.3 trillion yuan, according to CRIC.
- January to May 2025：
- CIH reported total sales of the top 100 property developers down 10.8% year-on-year to 1.4 trillion yuan.
- May 2025：
- Sales by top developers fell 8.6% year-on-year to nearly 295 billion yuan (CRIC data).
- May 2025：
- CIH reported an even steeper year-on-year sales drop of 17.3% for May, widening from 16.8% in April 2025.
- May 2025：
- According to EH Consulting, multiple residential projects in Shanghai sold out in a single day.
- May 2025：
- A local subsidiary of Greentown China Holdings Ltd. sold all 120 units of a project on the same day it was put on the market.
- Saturday, May 31, 2025：
- CRIC and CIH both published reports on property sales for the first five months of 2025.
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