Realty mkt sees broad rebound

A real estate agent (right) addresses queries from potential homebuyers in Jinhua, Zhejiang province, on March 21. HU XIAOFEI/FOR CHINA DAILY

Driven by growth in its four largest cities, home purchases in China gained traction nationwide in March, leading to rising confidence among experts about the housing performance during the upcoming May Day holiday, which is deemed vital to the overall stabilization of the real estate market.

Experts said the positive trajectory is likely to continue through May, paving the way for a bottoming out this year.

In the four benchmark cities — Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou in Guangdong province — prices of both new and pre-owned homes rose across the board in March, ending a prolonged adjustment period, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

"The cities saw pre-owned home prices rise 0.4 percent month-on-month in March, compared with a 0.1 percent decline a month earlier, while new home prices increased 0.2 percent from the previous month, leading the 70 large and medium-sized cities under official tracking," said Wang Zhonghua, a statistician with the NBS.

Wang said 14 cities reported price increases in the new home market in March — four more than February levels — while the number of cities recording gains in existing home prices rose to 13 over the same period.

Shaun Brodie, head of research content at global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield Greater China, said he expects the overall market uptrend to extend.

Brodie said: "Many local governments have introduced policies to support the real estate market this year, such as easing purchase restrictions and lowering mortgage interest rates. Such policies help lower the threshold for home purchases and stimulate housing demand.

"Thanks to the implementation of the policies and the improvement of the market environment, confidence has been restored to some extent, and some homebuyers with demand for first or improved housing have entered the market, driving a rebound in transaction volumes."

The positive momentum continued in April. Official figures revealed that in Beijing, 4,444 new homes were sold in the first 18 days of the month — exceeding the March total.

In Shanghai, 5,311 new homes were sold in the first 18 days of April, a stronger increase than that of the same period in March, according to the Shanghai Real Estate Trading Center.

The pre-owned home market also maintained strong momentum, with 9,916 existing homes changing hands in Beijing in the first 18 days of April, rising from 9,783 in the same period of March, while Shanghai recorded a total of 16,503 home transactions in the secondary market.

Normally a peak season, the five-day May Day holiday provides homebuyers time for viewings, typically leading to an increase in transactions, said Brodie.

"We anticipate that the real estate markets in first — and second-tier cities are expected to continue the recovery momentum during the May Day holiday, with both new and existing home transaction volumes projected to maintain moderate growth," he added.

"Cities with strong fundamentals are gradually bottoming out, becoming bellwethers and helping improve sentiment for more cities to follow suit," said Lu Wenxi, an analyst at Centaline Shanghai.

Lu said he has full confidence that the upcoming holiday and the whole month of May will outperform the same period last year, placing the residential property market on a steady recovery track.

To sustain the momentum in the market, experts suggest further room for policy. "The national real estate market has not yet emerged from its adjustment cycle, and if there is a lack of more substantial positive news after the May Day holiday, the market may return to rationality. Therefore, the introduction of subsequent policies will become a key factor influencing market trends," Brodie said.

wang_ying@chinadaily.com.cn