The value of new-home sales from the 100 biggest real estate companies slid about 46% from a year earlier to 358 billion yuan ($49.6 billion), following a 60% decline in February, according to preliminary data from China Real Estate Information Corp.
China’s protracted property sales drought has weighed on many of the nation’s biggest builders and eroded the balance sheets of the largest state-owned banks as their bad loans swell. Beijing has tasked banks with helping pump up the domestic economy as well as supporting debt-laden developers.
Country Garden Holdings Co., once a powerhouse in the residential space, made a surprise announcement late Thursday that it will miss a deadline for reporting annual results. China Vanke Co., at one time the largest listed developer, said net income tumbled 46% last year, sliding more than analysts expected.
March is traditionally a quick period for home sales, surging 93% from February, but sales were still weaker than the monthly average in the third and fourth quarters of last year, according to CRIC.
Separate figures released Monday showed a mixed picture for home prices in China. Prices of new homes gained 0.27% in March, accelerating from 0.14% in February, China Index Holdings data showed. From a year earlier, they climbed 0.82%.
(source:Bloomberg)
