In recent times, China’s real estate market has been engulfed in a cold spell, with Poly Development Holding Group, known as the “top player in state-owned enterprise real estate,” experiencing a significant decline in both sales and contract amounts in August. Even historic mansions that used to sell effortlessly are facing the challenge of going unsold despite a whopping price cut of over 53 million Chinese yuan. This situation indicates a comprehensive cooling down in China’s real estate market from both the quantity and pricing perspectives, ranging from low-end to high-end properties.
On September 5th, Poly Development released a briefing on its August sales performance, achieving a contracted area of 939,900 square meters, a 25.07% year-on-year decrease, and a contract amount of 18.015 billion yuan, an 18.54% year-on-year decrease.
Meanwhile, from January to August 2025, Poly Development realized a contracted area of 8.9852 million square meters, a 26.63% year-on-year decrease, and a contract amount of 181.2 billion yuan, a 17.92% year-on-year decrease.
As one of China’s top five large real estate enterprises, Poly Development’s performance has always been a significant indicator in the industry’s trend. However, the above data indicates that Poly Development is also not immune to the overall downturn in the real estate market, with both monthly and cumulative sales areas experiencing a significant decline of over 25%.
Financial blogger “Lying Flat Uncle,” with nearly 110,000 followers, mentioned that Poly Development ranks among the top real estate companies in the country, but its sharp drop in sales area and volume in August indicates that the market is deeply frozen. He pointed out, “If Poly’s properties are struggling to sell, let alone other real estate companies. What’s really going on? The current situation in the Chinese property market is something everyone is well aware of.”
This perspective is not unique. August data from research institutions such as the China Index Research Institute and Ke Rui generally show that the transaction volume of new residential properties in major cities across the country has significantly decreased compared to the previous month and the same period last year. Multiple reports from these institutions suggest that the transaction volume in August this year is at a near-decade low.
Despite various local governments in China rolling out relaxed and stimulus policies in the real estate market, market sentiment has yet to show significant signs of warming up, with potential buyers largely in a wait-and-see mode.
The dismal performance of the real estate market in August has dimmed expectations for the traditional peak selling season known as “Golden September and Silver October.”
Furthermore, the once thriving luxury housing market in Shanghai is now undergoing a “collective cooldown.”
A hundred-year-old historic mansion in Shanghai, which served as a filming location for dramas like “Finding Home” and “Thirty but Seventeen,” initially listed with a starting price of 150 million yuan, dropped to 96.66 million yuan in the second round of bidding, a sudden decrease of over 53.34 million yuan.
However, according to information from Alibaba’s asset platform on September 7th, despite the significant price reduction in the second round of bidding, there were no participants, leading to another failed auction.
Regarding this auction, a staff member named Mr. Liu from Shanghai Zhengshunyuan Auction Co., Ltd., responsible for the auction, mentioned that the second round of bidding failed, and there might be a third round auction later, but the starting price has not yet been determined.
A Shanghai local known as “Knife Brother” expressed sympathy for luxury homeowners in Shanghai, citing the case of Wang Sicong, the only son of Wanda Group’s chairman. The luxurious mansion known as the “king of kings in the building” had seen multiple price reductions and still found no takers. The wealthier class is also silently suffering as making money becomes increasingly challenging, and with property prices dropping by tens of millions, the question remains when they can make up for this difference.
The mansion is located in the Kai Tak Building on Huaihai Road in Shanghai, where Wang Sicong owns a 406-square-meter duplex with a garden. The initial average selling price within the community was around 220,000 yuan per square meter. Wang Sicong purchased the property for about 63 million yuan in a signed online contract, with an additional 22 million yuan spent on renovation, resulting in a real transaction price of approximately 85 million yuan.
Last year, this property was listed on a real estate platform starting at 92 million yuan. Since then, the price has been gradually reduced, dropping to 88 million, 85 million, 83 million, 80 million, 69.99 million, 63 million, and 61 million, yet the property remains unsold. The unit price of this property has plummeted from around 220,000 yuan per square meter to less than 160,000 yuan per square meter.
Additionally, in the Huangpu district of Shanghai, the Green City Shanghai Bay project, situated just 300 meters from the Huangpu River, saw a 233-square-meter unit sold for around 59 million yuan at the beginning of 2023. However, this year, the listed price has dropped to just over 30 million yuan. As per information released by intermediaries, this price is still being explored, indicating a decrease of over 20 million yuan in less than two years.
Videos circulating on mainland Chinese social media show an owner of a property in Phase One of Shanghai’s I-Park inspecting his luxury home with an intermediary because he is planning to emigrate and sell it at a discounted price.
Nanjing West Road is a major hub for luxury homes in Shanghai. One blogger revealed visiting the area on the weekend and being accompanied by five staff members from the Lianjia real estate agency to view properties.
“Lying Flat Uncle” remarked that the current condition of Shanghai’s second-hand housing market is beyond what one can imagine. Even prime locations in Shanghai are attracting minimal interest in second-hand homes, making it challenging for luxury properties to find buyers. The high-end properties are going unsold even after a forty percent discount, with repeated price drops failing to attract potential buyers, leaving the burden on the property owners.