In May, housing prices in 70 Chinese cities accelerated their decline, indicating that the multiple rounds of policy support introduced by the authorities have not been effective.
On June 16, the National Bureau of Statistics of the Communist Party of China released data showing that in May 2025, in 70 large and medium-sized cities, both new and existing home sales prices have dropped across the board compared to the previous month, with a significant year-on-year decrease trend, although the rate of decline has slightly narrowed.
Compared to the previous month, the sales prices of new homes in first-tier cities changed from flat to a 0.2% decrease. Among them, Shanghai increased by 0.7%, while Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen saw decreases of 0.4%, 0.8%, and 0.4% respectively. The prices of new homes in second-tier cities went from flat to a 0.2% decline compared to the previous month. The sales prices of new homes in third-tier cities decreased by 0.3% compared to the previous month, expanding by 0.1 percentage point.
In first-tier cities, the sales prices of existing homes decreased by 0.7%, with the decline expanding by 0.5 percentage points from the previous month. Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen each experienced decreases of 0.8%, 0.7%, 0.8%, and 0.5% respectively. Second and third-tier cities saw a 0.5% decrease in the sales prices of existing homes, with the decline expanding by 0.1 percentage point.
Year-on-year, the prices of new homes in first-tier cities decreased by 1.7%, with the rate of decline narrowing by 0.4 percentage points from the previous month. Shanghai saw an increase of 5.9%, while Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen experienced declines of 4.3%, 5.8%, and 2.6% respectively. Second and third-tier cities witnessed decreases of 3.5% and 4.9% in the sales prices of new homes, with the decline narrowing by 0.4 and 0.5 percentage points respectively.
The prices of existing homes in first-tier cities decreased by 2.7% year-on-year, with the rate of decline narrowing by 0.5 percentage points from the previous month. Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen saw decreases of 0.7%, 0.1%, 6.6%, and 3.2% respectively. Second and third-tier cities experienced year-on-year decreases of 6.1% and 6.9% in the prices of existing homes, with the decline narrowing by 0.4 and 0.5 percentage points respectively.
According to a report by Caixin, the effectiveness of policies is gradually weakening, leading to a renewed decline in housing prices. In May, both new and existing home prices in cities of all tiers dropped on a monthly basis, with new homes averaging a 0.22% decrease and existing homes a 0.50% decrease. These two indicators mark the largest monthly decline since 2025.
Xia Song, a part-time professor at Beijing Jiaotong University’s School of Economics and Management, and a self-media figure known as “Dao Brother Dao Finance,” stated in an article that the housing prices in May experienced a comprehensive acceleration in their fall. Despite the policy measures introduced in May, such as interest rate cuts, reductions in commercial and provident fund loan rates, statistics indicate that these policies are struggling to reverse the current trend of accelerated decline in the real estate market. Relying solely on existing policies may not be enough to stabilize the property market.
He mentioned that “without new policy measures, the accelerating downward trend in housing prices may become an important turning point in the new round of housing market trends.”