The “Golden September, Silver October” in the Beijing housing market has come to an end, with data showing that this year’s event ended with both quantity and price falling. Industry experts have noted that promotional activities by real estate companies are now more dispersed, no longer concentrated solely during “Golden September, Silver October”.
In China, September and October are traditionally peak seasons for real estate sales, commonly referred to as “Golden September, Silver October”. During this period, real estate developers typically launch a large number of promotional activities to attract customers. However, data for this year indicates that the once bustling “Golden September, Silver October” has lost its charm.
According to the Beijing Municipal Commission of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, in October, new home sales were down by 28.97% year-on-year with 3,511 units sold, while second-hand home sales dropped by 30.4% to 12,087 units. The data shows that second-hand home sales in October have fallen below the monthly threshold of 15,000 units.
Additionally, data from Ke and Ray showed that the average transaction price for new homes in October was 58,700 yuan (RMB) per square meter, up by 3.5% year-on-year. On the other hand, a report from Linping Residential Big Data Research Institute revealed that the average transaction price for second-hand homes in Beijing in October was 53,600 yuan per square meter, down by 10.76% year-on-year.
Data from Fang.com showed that in September, new home sales in Beijing dropped by 30.5% compared to the previous month, with 2,161 units sold, while second-hand home transactions decreased by 19.7% to 10,719 units.
The data indicates that both the quantity and price in Beijing’s housing market during “Golden September, Silver October” have experienced declines.
Caijing Magazine quoted sales staff from the property “Yihe Gongguan” on November 13th, stating that the new policies this year only provided a minor boost to their sales for a few days, unlike last year when there was a significant increase in sales volume.
A senior executive from a leading real estate company told the magazine that promotion strategies among real estate companies have become more diversified now. Following the launch of new properties, there are promotional activities almost every quarter, rather than being concentrated solely during “Golden September, Silver October”.
With the changing dynamics of the real estate market, Sun Yang, Deputy General Manager of Asset Management Department and Chief Analyst at Lideng Securities, believes that there may no longer be a fixed seasonal variation like “Golden September, Silver October” in the future. “Whenever there is a large supply of good projects available, that time will be the peak season for transactions,” he said.
Regarding the future direction of the real estate market, real estate economist Deng Haozhi recently expressed concerns in his article titled “Unsatisfactory ‘Golden September’ in the Real Estate Market, Post ‘Silver October’ May Be Even More Challenging”. He stated that the lackluster performance of “Golden September” is worrying, and if the traditional peak season is already challenging, the market is expected to face even tougher times after “Golden September, Silver October”.