On May 19, according to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics of the Communist Party of China, in April, among the 70 large and medium-sized cities, the prices of residential properties in various cities remained stable or decreased compared to the previous month, and on a year-on-year basis, the prices continued to show a downward trend.
In terms of newly built residential properties, in April, the month-on-month sales prices in first-tier cities remained flat after a 0.1% increase from the previous month. Among them, Beijing and Shanghai saw increases of 0.1% and 0.5% respectively, while Guangzhou and Shenzhen experienced decreases of 0.2% and 0.1% respectively. The month-on-month sales prices of newly built residential properties in second-tier cities remained flat, the same as the previous month. Third-tier cities saw a 0.2% month-on-month decrease in the sales prices of newly built residential properties, the same as the previous month.
Among the 70 large and medium-sized cities, 22 saw an increase in the price index of newly built residential properties compared to the previous month, down from 24 cities in the previous month; 45 cities saw a decrease, up from 41 in the previous month; and 3 cities remained stable, down from 5 in the previous month.
On a year-on-year basis, the sales prices of newly built residential properties in first-tier cities decreased by 2.1%, narrowing the decline by 0.7 percentage points from the previous month. Shanghai saw an increase of 5.9%, while Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen experienced decreases of 5.0%, 6.3%, and 3.0% respectively. Prices in second and third-tier cities decreased by 3.9% and 5.4% respectively, with the decline narrowing by 0.5 and 0.3 percentage points.
As for second-hand residential properties, in April, the month-on-month sales prices in first-tier cities decreased by 0.2% after a 0.2% increase the previous month. Among them, Shanghai increased by 0.1%, Guangzhou remained stable, and Beijing and Shenzhen saw decreases of 0.6% and 0.3% respectively. Second-hand residential prices in second and third-tier cities both decreased by 0.4% month-on-month, with the decline expanding by 0.2 and 0.1 percentage points compared to the previous month.
Year-on-year, the sales prices of second-hand residential properties in first-tier cities decreased by 3.2%, narrowing the decline by 0.9 percentage points from the previous month. Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen saw decreases of 1.0%, 0.6%, 7.4%, and 3.7% respectively. Second-hand residential prices in second and third-tier cities decreased by 6.5% and 7.4% respectively, with the decline narrowing by 0.5 and 0.4 percentage points.
China Economic Net reported that industry insiders believe that both the new and second-hand housing markets showed some adjustment trends in April, whether from the supply side or the demand side. Market confidence and transaction momentum need to be enhanced. Future attention should focus on the adjustments at the policy level and the impact of economic changes on the real estate market to determine whether there are clear signs of a market rebound.
On May 1, data released by the China Real Estate Index Institute showed that in April 2025, the average price of second-hand residential properties in 100 cities nationwide decreased by 0.69% compared to the previous month, marking a continuous decline for 36 months, with a significant year-on-year drop of 7.23%.
According to Reuters, analysts estimate that the average housing prices in China have declined by 20% to 30% since reaching their peak in August 2021.