China's property investment fell by 10% this year amid poor economy, shows data

China’s property investment fell at a faster pace from January to October but sales narrowed the slump, showing policy stimulus is starting to inject some life into the crisis-hit sector, although a robust recovery might take some time.

Property investment in China fell 10.3 per cent in the first 10 months of 2024 from a year earlier, after a drop of 10.1 per cent over January to September, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Friday.

Property sales by floor area in the January to October period fell 15.8% from a year earlier, slower than a drop of 17.1 per cent in January-September.

China’s property sector has been a significant drag on the economy since 2021, when authorities imposed tough measures to curb excessive leverage, which led to heavily indebted developers, stalled housing projects, and mortgage boycotts.

Government policies to revitalise the market since last year include lower borrowing costs and greater financing for struggling developers, but a meaningful recovery has yet to emerge, despite these efforts.

Most recently, China unveiled tax incentives for home and land deals to boost demand and alleviate financial pressures on developers, in the bid to revive the sector.

New construction starts measured by floor area declined 22.6 per cent on year, after a drop of 22.2 per cent in the first nine months.

Funds raised by China’s property developers were down 19.2 per cent from a year earlier, after a fall of 20.0 per cent  in January-September.

(Except the headline, this story has not been edited by Firstpost staff.)