Will China’s ailing property market get ‘golden week’ sales boost?

Chinese developers, cities and provinces woo homebuyers with holiday discounts and promotions after Beijing unveils stimulus policies

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People visit a show flat for a residential project in Shanghai on Thursday. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 8:00am, 6 Oct 2024

China’s property developers have ramped up efforts to boost sales during the National Day “golden week” holiday after Beijing launched a slew of stimulus policies to save the ailing real estate market.

More than 20 Chinese provinces and over 130 cities organised activities, including exhibitions and live-streams, to “promote sales and explain the latest housing policies”, according to the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural development, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Saturday.

“Sellers in multiple places are doing business as usual during the golden week and have been giving out special holiday discounts and subsidies,” the ministry said. These include transport subsidies and discounts for those who buy homes in their hometowns, it added.

The renewed efforts to boost sales come after Beijing announced a stimulus package on September 24, a week before the start of the week-long public holiday.

The holiday is seen as an important time for gauging China’s domestic demand, including retail and box office sales, tourism and catering.

The People’s Bank of China announced it would cut mortgage rates by half a point and lower the down payment required for second homes to 15 per cent, from 25 per cent. The policy is expected to help 150 million homeowners save 150 billion yuan (US$21.2 billion) annually, PBOC governor Pan Gongsheng said.

These and other measures were introduced to spur consumption and stimulate property sales as the slowing Chinese economy has been under pressure from a struggling property market, low consumer demand and heavy local government debts.