A sharp drop in the average price of a home in 70 big cities in mainland China, a proxy for the national market.
New home prices fell 1.24% from a year earlier, accelerating from December’s 0.89% decline, according to calculations by The Wall Street Journal based on data released Friday by China’s National Bureau of Statistics.
Secondhand home prices did even worse, falling by 4.4% in January compared with a year earlier. It was the steepest such decline in almost nine years.
The prolonged fall in home prices shows the huge task facing Beijing policymakers, who have taken several steps to revive the housing market but have so far proved unable to turn the market around. China’s property slump has pushed dozens of developers to the brink of collapse, and dealt major damage to confidence in the country.
“The bottom for the housing prices is far from being reached,” said Liu Yuan, head of property research at Centaline. “It will not happen in 2024.”
Private surveys show China’s 100 largest developers recorded a deep slump in new-home sales in January. They sold homes valued at $32.8 billion, down 34% from a year earlier, marking the worst month of sales since at least July 2020, according to data provider China Real Estate Information.
@CommittedSnipeLibertarian4mos4MO
The China bail out plan won't work:
Won't work:
the home loan from the bank is not discharageable in bankruptcy. You cannot walk away.
There are additional civil sanctions if you do not pay.
It the government hypothetically bought up all the unfulfilled contracts for $1, people would bail and sell immediately.
There is going to be a tremendous inflation because the government would be printing large sums of currency in a country where there is no income tax and no property taxes.
The only way that local governments are able to function is buying seizing and "selling" land to developers and that has stopped. There is no tax revenue
@InspiringLionSocialist4mos4MO
The Central Government needs to sell more workers their own homes. The sales will provide gas to the economy and also quell the need to keep poking Taiwan and the American "devils". Put them to work paying mortgages and buying electronics for new homes.
@CommittedSnipeLibertarian4mos4MO
Most of the factory, construction workers, truck drivers etc have houses in the rural villages where they came from and have been putting their money into upgrading them. They may not want to invest in a concrete box in a city slum. Plus they don't have an urban household registration so they're permanently temporary residents. China has gone way down a blind alley
@AgileMinorityRepublican4mos4MO
In 40-50 years these mega housing complex would be inhabited by ghosts as China's population drops in half.
@CommittedSnipeLibertarian4mos4MO
Ghosts already there. Its estimated they have at least one apartment for everyone alive in the country.
@EmptyFoxConstitution4mos4MO
Failure is not an option in China. Government to rescue. I think rule number 1 of free market, let there be losers and winners. China needs to learn.
@SuperiorJusticeSocialist4mos4MO
I wish that slogan had never been invented, Failure is always possible. Agree that there will be winners and losers---Deng's reforms created a number of the former while greatly exacerbating the gap with the latter. Let's hope state intervention will have a better result for the losers than state intervention has in the U.S. But, like Zhiwu Chen, I'm not optimistic.
@Patriot-#1776Constitution4mos4MO
Welfare states are evil criminal cartels who rely on brute force and legalized plunder for all their operations.
@9CJ6CB64mos4MO
You were so close yet so far at the same time.
@Patriot-#1776Constitution4mos4MO
I don't understand what on earth you mean by that, but I actually hit the bullseye with that comment.
@9K6M79Q4mos4MO
its a good thing because china hates us
@ISIDEWITH4mos4MO
@ISIDEWITH4mos4MO
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