This year's May Day holiday saw a continued recovery in China's real estate markets, especially in first- and second-tier cities, boosted by a series of beneficial policies and a growing number of "quality homes" entering the market.
In Beijing, a newly developed property featuring three- and four-bedroom apartments, welcomes a surging number of homebuyers during the holiday, mostly seeking to improve their housing situation.
"During the May Day holiday, the footfall was around 400 to 500 people daily, and we were closing about 10 deals a day," said Wang Haifeng, who is responsible for the marketing and selling of the property.
In addition, with the implementation of the Residential Building Code recently, meeting "quality homes" standard has become a selling points for real estate developers around the country. This is a term mentioned for the first time in this year's Government Work Report, calling for safe, comfortable, eco-friendly, and smart housings.
"For example, all residential buildings must have a floor-to-ceiling height of at least three meters. The typical units must be designed with balconies, which allow for more usable space. Additionally, we are incorporating integrated central air conditioning, fresh air systems, and underfloor heating," said Wang.
In Shanghai, 20,700 second-hand homes were sold in April, a 32 percent increase year on year, marking the highest figure since 2022. Some properties, due to strong sales performance, chose to release additional units during the May Day holiday.
In the Huangpu District of Guangzhou City, south China's Guangdong Province, from May 1 to 2, all 47 properties under construction and on sale attracted over 2,000 batches of visitors, with the number of purchases increasing by 37 percent compared with last year. In neighboring Shenzhen City, the "May Day Quality Homes Festival" attracted 40,000 visitors on the first day of the event. The sales rate of a property site in Nanshan District reached 90 percent on the opening day.
In Wuhan City of central China's Hubei Province, a local store of a major second-hand real estate agency reported over 8,000 visitors in the first three days of the holiday, a 25 percent increase compared with the same period last year.
"Since April 30, our house showings and inquiries have doubled. On average, each of our staff took two to three groups of prospective homebuyers to houses on sale every day," said Wang Qi, a real estate agent from the agency.
In addition, city governments across China have been implementing beneficial policies to promote the real estate market.
In Hefei City of east China's Anhui Province, the city has upscaled support for the use of housing provident funds for purchasing government-subsidized housing and increased loan amounts.
In Suzhou City, east China's Jiangsu Province, loan limits have been relaxed for families with multiple children and for those purchasing improved housing.
Qingdao City of east China's Shandong Province has also introduced 12 new policies to stimulate the housing market, including subsidies for homebuyers, low monthly payment loan products, and a housing "trade-in" scheme.
"In key cities, both new and used home transaction volumes have seen year-on-year growth for two consecutive quarters. Although the growth rate in the first quarter of this year was slightly lower than that of last year's fourth quarter, the stabilizing trend in the property market is clear," said Li Yujia, chief researcher at the Guangdong Housing Policy Research Center.
Major Chinese cities witness continued real estate market during May Day holiday
Major Chinese cities witness continued real estate market during May Day holiday
