Year-to-date property sales return to growth

Property sales continued to rebound solidly around the country as impact from the coronavirus pandemic further eases, according to the latest government data.

In the first eight months of 2020, more than 8.67 trillion yuan (US$1.27 trillion) worth of new homes, excluding government-subsidized affordable housing, were sold around China, a year-on-year increase of 4.1 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement posted on its website on Tuesday. This represents the first growth in property sales registered so far for the year to date.

By area, new homes sold during the January-August period fell 2.5 percent to 872 million square meters, still remaining in a negative territory despite narrowing from a 5 percent retreat in the first seven months.

On the investment side, meanwhile, real estate developers around the country earmarked more than 6.54 trillion yuan during the eight-month period for housing development, a year-on-year increase of 5.3 percent, further accelerating from the 4.1 percent rise recorded in the first seven months, the bureau’s data show.