China’s real estate investments in January-September decreased by 13.9% y/y

Investments in Chinese real estate fell by 13.9% year-on-year in January-September to 6.77 trillion yuan ($0.95 trillion), according to SteelOrbis, citing the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The total area covered by construction activity in the country decreased by 9.4% year-on-year over the nine months. The area of new construction fell by 18.9% year-on-year during the period.

In September, real estate investment amounted to 739.7 billion yuan ($103.8 billion), down 21.3% year-on-year.

The real estate market prosperity index in September this year was 92.78, compared to 93.05 in August.

At the same time, Reuters reports that prices for new housing in 70 large and medium-sized cities in the country fell at the fastest pace in 11 months in September (by 0.4% month-on-month and 2.2% year-on-year). This exacerbated the real estate sector’s dampening effect on overall economic growth.

As GMK Center reported earlier, Chinese steel companies reduced steel production by 4.6% in September 2025 compared to September 2024, to 73.49 million tons. Compared to the previous month, the figure fell by 5%. This is the fourth consecutive decline in monthly smelting volume. In January-September, it fell to 746.25 million tons (-2.9% y/y).

Also, China increased its steel exports by 9.2% compared to the same period in 2024, to 87.96 million tons, in January-September 2025. In September, Chinese steel producers exported 10.47 million tons, which is 10% more than in the previous month.