Property market shows stronger recovery signs

China’s property market demonstrated stronger recovery signs in November, with price declines easing across 70 large and medium-sized cities, according to data released Monday by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). The year-on-year drop in new home prices in the four first-tier cities—Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen—narrowed to 4.3% from 4.6% in October, while Shanghai saw new home prices rise 5% month-on-month. Second-hand home prices in these cities fell 8%, a 1.6 percentage-point improvement from October. Across the remaining 31 second-tier and 35 third-tier cities, both new and second-hand home prices also showed reduced declines. Nationwide, 17 cities reported month-on-month increases in new home prices, up from seven in October, marking a sustained recovery. The NBS attributed the trend to policy adjustments since a September meeting, where the Communist Party’s Political Bureau pledged to stabilize the market by easing mortgage rates, enhancing land and fiscal policies, and cutting home purchase costs. Transaction activity surged in November, reflecting improved market confidence, according to NBS spokesperson Fu Linghui. At the Central Economic Work Conference last week, leaders emphasized continued efforts to reverse the downturn, control new land supply, and promote a sustainable real estate development model. The data suggests policy measures are gradually restoring demand, though challenges remain in fully reversing the sector’s prolonged slump.