According to the latest data, in July, the secondary housing market in mainland China is still in a period of “exchanging price for volume,” with prices continuing to fall. Sellers are facing the difficult decision of cutting prices to exit the market. In July, the second-hand housing transaction price in Shanghai fell by 6.86% year-on-year.
According to the China Real Estate Index System’s Price Index for One Hundred Cities, in July, the average price of second-hand residential properties in one hundred cities was 14,653 yuan per square meter, a decrease of 0.74% from the previous month. This decline widened by 0.01 percentage points compared to June, marking the 27th consecutive month of month-on-month decline and a year-on-year decline of 6.58%.
The trend of “exchanging price for volume” continues as second-hand housing transactions in key cities continue to increase. In Beijing, the cumulative transaction volume of second-hand residential properties exceeded 15,000 units, a slight increase of 4% month-on-month, and an approximate 60% year-on-year increase. In Shenzhen, nearly 4,700 second-hand residential properties were sold, an increase of over 10% month-on-month and over 100% year-on-year. Shanghai saw the transaction of 18,200 second-hand residential properties, a decrease of 23.79% month-on-month but an increase of 44.7% year-on-year.
Data shows that in July, 100 cities experienced a month-on-month decline in the price of second-hand residential properties for the fourth consecutive month. There were 39 cities that saw a month-on-month decline in the price of new residential properties, an increase of 4 cities compared to June.
The month-on-month decline in second-hand housing prices in first- and second-tier cities has widened. According to the Price Index for One Hundred Cities by the China Real Estate Index System, the month-on-month decline in the price of second-hand residential properties in first-tier and second-tier cities was 0.80% and 0.78% respectively, with the declines expanding by 0.14 and 0.04 percentage points compared to June. The month-on-month decline in the price of second-hand residential properties in representative third- and fourth-tier cities narrowed to 0.67%. The trend of “exchanging price for volume” remains unchanged.
According to the China Index Research Institute’s statistics on the price changes of second-hand residential properties in 100 cities in July, the city with the largest price drop was Changzhou, Jiangsu, with an average price of 13,944 yuan per square meter, a month-on-month decline of 1.55%. Other cities with significant price declines include Wuhu, Jinhua, Dongguan, Wuhan, Chongqing, Yangzhou, Kunshan, Fuzhou, and Xiamen.
According to CRIC, in the first half of this year, the scale of the new housing market accelerated its contraction, with a year-on-year decrease of 38% and a month-on-month decrease of 21% in total transaction volume in 20 key cities.
Buyers are “comparing goods from three different stores,” as reported on August 8th by the Daily Economic News, while sellers and landlords are facing the difficult decision of cutting prices to exit the market.
Data from Shanghai E-House Real Estate Research Institute shows that in July, 18,200 second-hand residential properties were sold in Shanghai, a decrease of 23.79% compared to June, but an increase of 44.7% year-on-year.
However, according to the China Index Research Institute, the price of second-hand houses in Shanghai saw a slight month-on-month decline of 0.88% in July and a year-on-year decline of 6.86%, placing it at a moderate level among the top ten monitored cities in terms of year-on-year price decline.