A nascent two-month recovery in China’s home sales ended in July, as a widespread mortgage revolt over concerns that ailing property developers wouldn’t be able to deliver still-unfinished apartments weighed on demand, reports The Wall Street Journal. Sales at the country’s top 100 property developers fell 39.7% in July from the same period last year to the equivalent of $77.6 billion, or RMB 523.14 billion, according to data released Sunday by CRIC, a Chinese real-estate data provider.
July sales were down 28.6% from June, ending a two-month recovery in month-to-month sales growth. Apartment sales showed increases in May and June from the previous months, as activity picked up following Covid lockdowns in Shanghai and other Chinese cities earlier this year.
China’s private-sector property developers went on a yearslong, debt-fueled building boom, selling homes before they were built, until a funding crisis that began last year led to defaults and stalled projects. Buyers who typically sank large down payments into those homes have been venting their frustrations all summer.
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