China Vanke, at one time the largest listed developer in the country, suffered another slump last month, joining other real estate firms with declining home sales, reports Caixin. Contracted sales for March were RMB 24.5 billion ($3.4 billion), the company said in a filing Wednesday. That represents a 43% decline from a year earlier, and follows a 53% year-on-year plunge the previous month.
China’s battered property sector is showing few signs of a turnaround. Private data showed March’s home sales extended a steep decline and agencies don’t expect a notable recovery this month. Property investment slumped 9% in the first two months of the year, more than expected.
Vanke last month reported that net profit tumbled 46% for 2023, the biggest drop since its 1991 listing. Fitch Ratings downgraded Vanke’s credit rating to junk, joining Moody’s Ratings that cut the builder to below investment grade and warned of further reductions.