According to official data and frontline observations, the Beijing second-hand housing market is still in a downward trend. Recent transaction cases have shown significant discrepancies between the selling prices and previous market expectations, leading to market concerns about the direction of the Beijing property market.
Recently, a real estate agent in Liangxiang Changhong community in Fangshan District, Beijing, posted a video on social media that sparked public attention. A three-bedroom apartment with good sunlight and near the subway was sold for 850,000 yuan, which was much lower than the market had anticipated.
A financial blogger, known as “Anxious Cola Cake,” who had already sold his property in the same community, expressed shock after watching the video. He mentioned that a similar property in the area could have been sold for between 1.6 to 1.8 million yuan last year. To see it now selling for only 850,000 yuan, almost a halving of the price, was deemed excessive. This situation is quite common in the suburbs, where many properties have not been transacted for some time, prompting sellers to significantly reduce prices to facilitate deals.
On social media, several agents also acknowledged that in areas with high supply pressure, adjusting prices has become a key means to stimulate transactions.
The pressure of plummeting prices is not only limited to the suburbs. Another video circulating on social media featured a conversation between an elderly Beijing resident living in the Xihai Yijia community within the Second Ring Road and a real estate agent. The owner planned to sell their property, located in a premium area within the Second Ring Road, facing Xuanwu Hospital, close to Guang’anmen Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, the well-known Tsinghua College, and the famous Niujie Food Street, with convenient access to Subway Lines 7 and 19.
The agent explained that the property, situated on the 17th floor of a 29-story building, was listed for sale at 9.98 million yuan in July but has yet to find a buyer. Given the current market stagnancy, the agent advised the seller to lower the price by at least 2 million yuan as the listing price was significantly higher than what the market could accept, making it challenging to sell at 8 million yuan.
Feeling helpless, the seller said, “It’s really tough, way beyond my expectations. I need to reconsider.”
The agent pointed out the location advantages of the property, but the seller, feeling uneasy, decided to lower the price by 1 million yuan to gauge market response.
“Anxious Cola Cake” believes that even in the core urban areas, the transaction cycle for properties has been prolonged, with a notable increase in market sensitivity toward prices. Depending solely on location advantages no longer suffice to support high-priced transactions.
Official data indicates that there are no clear signs of stabilization in the Beijing property market. According to the data released by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the overall volume of second-hand housing transactions in Beijing has been fluctuating at a low level in recent months, indicating limited market activity.
Additionally, the residential property price index data released by the National Bureau of Statistics of China for 70 large and medium cities showed a continued decline in the second-hand residential housing price index in Beijing. Both year-on-year and month-on-month house prices are under pressure. The price and transaction changes reflected in official data are consistent with the phenomenon of making price concessions for transactions observed in the market.
On the supply side, some market data suggests a recent decline in the number of listings for second-hand properties in Beijing. Referring to internal data from major real estate agencies, “Anxious Cola Cake” mentioned that as of December 22, a total of 152,387 listings were recorded in the front and back-end systems of major agencies in Beijing, a decrease from about 165,000 listings in September. Many sellers have opted to delist their properties for sale and switch to rental options. Since July, the trend of price decline has been accelerating. Currently, the Beijing property market continues to rely on price reductions to drive transactions. The price reduction in various communities is alarming.
Industry insiders point out that while the data from major real estate agencies’ internal systems is unofficial, it provides a closer reflection of the actual market supply situation. The decrease in listings is not solely due to transactions but also because some owners have chosen to temporarily delist their properties or rent them out, with limited improvement in demand.
Considering both official data and market observations, real estate agents and market analysts believe that the current state of the Beijing second-hand property market primarily revolves around “price-for-volume” transactions. Deals are more dependent on price concessions rather than a noticeable resurgence in demand. The market is still in a phase of readjusting price expectations, with sellers gradually revising their market perceptions. In the short term, there are no comprehensive signals of stabilization in the Beijing property market, and the future trend still requires further monitoring of transaction volumes and price indicators.