China’s revenue from residential land sales fell about 65% in 2025 from its 2020 peak, as a prolonged property downturn forced even state-backed investment vehicles to scale back, reports Caixin citing date from the China Index Academy.
Land sales rose quite strongly in early 2025 because of purchases by state-owned enterprises to offset problems with local government funding vehicles, but that has now faded. The gloom over the property market seems to be getting even denser.
Vanke made headlines towards the end of 2025 for deferring on repaying its bonds and is still seeking to delay the repayment further. 2025 also saw the price of second-hand homes continuously fall throughout the year, as well as new construction slowing to the lowest level since 2000. There appears to be almost zero optimism about the property market slump finding a bottom any time soon, and the big question is how much further it can fall.