A court auction to sell vast commercial land plots owned by defaulted Shimao Group in Shenzhen failed for a second time on Thursday as there were no bidders, highlighting weak demand in China’s property market, reports Reuters. Twelve land plots totalling 243,602 square metres, together with some uncompleted buildings on them, have asked for RMB 10.4 billion ($1.4 billion), 20% lower than the RMB 13 billion starting price in the first auction in July, according to e-commerce company JD.com’s online auction platform.
China’s property sector, which has seen many company defaults since it slipped into a debt crisis in mid-2021, is struggling to stabilise due to a bleak economic outlook.
The Shenzhen plots were part of the land parcel bought by Shanghai-based Shimao in 2017, which planned to build a new landmark complex in China’s tech hub with the city’s tallest skyscraper.
