China’s top-tier cities take lead in property sales

Top Chinese property developers derived the largest share of their sales from the country’s four biggest cities in the first half of 2026, reports Caixin. This is the first time top-tier cities have outperformed second-tier regional hubs.

Tier-1 cities—Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen—accounted for 45.5% of sales for 20 major builders during the period, according to data from the China Index Academy. This marks a significant shift from three years ago, when top-tier cities contributed just 28% of sales while second-tier cities drove the majority of revenue.

The contribution from second-tier cities fell 3.2 percentage points to 44.6% during the period, while lower-tier cities dropped to 9.8%.