Real estate investment in China fell by 10.1% y/y in January-May

In January-May 2024, total investment in real estate in China reached 4.06 trillion yuan ($560 billion), which is 10.1% less than a year earlier, Kallanish reports with reference to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

In May, investments in the sector amounted to 970.4 billion yuan, which is 9.7% more than in April, but 4.7% less year-on-year.

In the first 5 months of the year, real estate sales by area fell by 20.3% y/y – to 366.4 million square meters. In May, this figure increased by 12.2% m/m, but decreased by 16.1% compared to May 2023.

Last month, Beijing announced a series of measures to rescue the real estate sector, including 300 billion yuan ($41.4 billion) in funding to buy unsold homes and buy back unused land.

According to NBS spokeswoman Liu Aihua, it must be recognized that it will take some time for the effects of the policy measures to be felt, and the real estate market is still in the process of adjusting.

Industrial production in China in May this year increased by 5.6% compared to May last year. Last month’s growth fell short of analysts’ expectations (+6% y/y), and the slowdown in the real estate sector showed no signs of abating despite support measures.

As GMK Center reported earlier, in May this year, China increased steel production by 8.1% month-on-month and by 2.7% compared to May 2023 – to 92.86 million tons. Over the past 5 months, the country’s steelmaking companies reduced steel production by 1.4% y/y.