The decline in China’s home sales accelerated in November, as buyers remained wary of the turmoil in the country’s real estate sector.
The value of new home sales among the 100 biggest real estate companies fell 29.6% from a year earlier to 390.19 billion yuan ($54.6 billion), according to preliminary data from China Real Estate Information Corp. on Thursday. That follows a 27.5% decline in October.
Sales were down 4.1% from a month earlier. The top 100 developers’ aggregate annual sales are expected to fall 15% from 2022, according to the report.
To stabilize the nation’s real estate market, authorities have issued a wide-ranging basket of policies to loosen buying curbs and lower downpayment requirements. The government has signaled increased urgency to stop a downward spiral in the property sector from derailing growth and endangering financial stability.
Authorities have proposed a draft list of 50 real estate developers eligible for bank support while weighing a plan that would allow banks to offer them unsecured loans for the first time, people familiar have said.
But the task to stabilize the market remains challenging under a broad-based decline. Buyers remain on the sidelines, spooked by construction delays, falling prices and company defaults.
China’s home prices fell the most in eight years in October, signaling the property slump is worsening even after the government ramped up efforts to revive demand.
--With assistance from Evelyn Yu.
