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Several Chinese cities experienced a boost in their housing markets during the Lunar New Year holiday, driven by various policies from the central government and real estate developers.
In Shanghai, the total floor area of newly sold homes surged by 193% during the nine-day holiday ending February 23 compared to the previous year. The sales volume also surpassed numbers from 2024 and 2023, according to data from Shanghai Centaline Property Agency.
Supportive government policies and promotional incentives from developers during the holiday directly lowered the cost of purchasing new homes, encouraging more prospective buyers to seize the opportunity, an industry insider explained.
Following the holiday, home viewing appointments at Shenzhen Leyoujia stores increased markedly. Data from local real estate brokers showed a 45% rise in viewings of new homes and roughly a 60% increase in second-hand home viewings compared to last year.
Many potential buyers remain cautious and are mostly observing market trends. Their main concerns include whether prices will continue to decline, if under-construction properties will be ready on time with quality assurance, and whether new properties will hold their value, the insider added.
A representative from the Poly Tianyi project in Guangzhou mentioned that most clients finalized their home purchases within less than 10 days of visiting during the holiday—a significant reduction from the typical decision timeframe of about a month.
In cities known for exporting labor, such as Fuyang in Anhui Province, Nantong in Jiangsu Province, and Handan in Hebei Province, there was notable demand for properties from migrant workers returning home for the holiday. An insider from a developer in East China indicated that new home reservations in these cities increased by 10% to 20% during the nine-day period compared to the same timeframe last month.
However, demand levels varied across different cities. For instance, reservations in places like Suzhou, Zhengzhou, and Shenyang declined by approximately 20% to 30% year-over-year, while places such as Hangzhou and Hefei maintained similar levels, the insider noted.
Li Yujia, chief researcher at the Guangdong Housing Policy Research Center, attributed the rise in home purchases by migrant workers partly to the longer holiday duration and an increased number of people returning to their hometowns compared to last year.
Furthermore, many returning workers planned to seek part-time work or start small businesses locally. Li also pointed out that stabilizing house prices in some third- and fourth-tier cities played a role in boosting demand.
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