Property sales for China’s top 50 developers dropped by 47% year-on-year in Q1 2022, as the struggling sector tries to find its feet despite promises of support from the government, reports Caixin. Sales by the 50 biggest developers in the first quarter were also lower than in the same period in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic first hit the country and China’s economy contracted for the first time in 28 years, data from real estate information database CRIC showed.
Marketing staff at multiple developers told Caixin that they achieved only about 60% of their first-quarter sales goals. March and April are usually the best selling season for the real estate market. During the first few months, many regions across China have been hit by new COVID-19 flare-ups and implemented lockdowns, which have slashed the number of visits to new property projects.
But the pandemic is not the major reason for the sharp drop in housing sales. Potential home buyers’ expectations about the macro economy, future income, future cash and the job outlook have turned pessimistic, a sales representative at a state-owned developer told Caixin.