China’s housing construction has slowed to its lowest level in more than two decades, reports Caixin. The shift marks a structural turning point for China’s property sector, which is now focused on shrinking balance sheets and clearing excess inventory rather than expanding supply.
Data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed that nationwide residential housing starts fell 19.9% year-on-year in the first 11 months of 2025 to 392 million square meters, while new home sales dropped 8.1% to 658 million square meters. That means developers broke ground on less than 60 square meters of new housing for every 100 square meters sold, pushing the starts-to-sales ratio down to 59.5%—the lowest level since at least 2000.
Official data over the past 26 years show how sharply the industry has reversed course. From 1999 to 2014, rapid urbanization drove surging housing demand, and residential construction consistently outpaced sales, with the starts-to-sales ratio often exceeding 110% and at times reaching 150%.