Some of China’s major cities recorded significant year-on-year rebounds in pre-owned home sales in January, offering fresh signs of stabilisation in the property sector despite an overall market downturn and the traditional off-season, Yicai Global reports.
Shenzhen clocked a 10-month high of 6,802 pre-owned units sold, up 2.9 percent compared with December but a whopping 46 percent from January 2024, according to the Shenzhen Real Estate Intermediary Association.
In Beijing, resale transactions reached 15,082 units, down 12 percent from December but up 21 percent year-on-year – marking the third consecutive month above 14,000, data from the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development showed.
Shanghai logged 22,834 second-hand home sales, down just 0.5 percent month-on-month and up 24 percent from a year earlier to hit the highest January figure in five years, according to the Shanghai Real Estate Trading Center.
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Researchers say the pickup reflects a gradual adjustment after more than four years of falling prices. Li Yujia, a housing policy researcher at the Guangdong Provincial Academy of Urban and Rural Planning and Design, suggested that the market was entering a bottom-finding phase as affordability indicators such as price-to-income and price-to-rent ratios had become more reasonable.
Li also cautioned that settling on a floor would likely require further price adjustments, a more transparent transaction environment, and stronger confidence in employment and income prospects from the public.
While sales have been increasing, housing supply has tightened in several places. Listings of second-hand homes in Beijing fell 4.7 percent from end-December to around 125,600 units by late January, a near two-year low. Shanghai’s listings have declined for four consecutive months, returning to levels last seen in early 2025.
Market analysts say the drop in listings reflects a shift in seller behaviour, with some homeowners less willing to slash prices and opting instead to wait or rent out properties – particularly older homes in prime locations. Overall inventory levels remain high and pressure to clear stock persists, with price trends continuing to diverge between core and non-core areas in major cities, according to Cao Jingjing, general manager of the China Index Academy’s index research department.
