China property stocks surged on Monday following Beijing’s announcement of new support measures for the real estate sector. The Hang Seng Mainland Properties Index rose over 2%, with China Resources Land leading the gains at 7.6%. Other developers such as China Overseas Land & Investment and Yuexiu Property also saw significant increases. In Mainland China, the CSI 300 index advanced nearly 5% with real estate as the top gainer. The rally was driven by the Ministry of Finance’s policy measures aimed at stabilizing the troubled real estate market.
The new policy measures allow local governments to issue more special bonds to purchase land and unsold housing inventories from developers. This is intended to balance supply and demand in the land market, reduce idle land, and alleviate financing pressures on both local governments and developers. While the move is seen as an attempt to address the country’s unsold housing inventory, there are concerns about the market incentives for local governments to implement these measures effectively. However, investor sentiment may improve in the near term as a result of Beijing’s policy focus, though more details on implementation are awaited.
Goldman Sachs economists believe that the incremental policy changes may have limited effects on addressing property destocking until implementation bottlenecks are resolved. Issues such as differing transaction prices between local governments and developers could hinder the effectiveness of the measures. It is expected that the property market’s drag on GDP growth will persist well into 2025 as construction activity aligns with leading indicators such as land sales and property starts. President Xi Jinping’s meeting in September aimed to halt the real estate market decline and stimulate a stable recovery, with the central bank cutting mortgage rates to ease homeowners’ financial burdens.
China’s real estate sector continues to struggle with a significant inventory of unsold units and unfinished projects. Analysts emphasize the need to clear these inventories to restore confidence among homebuyers. Vice Minister of Finance Liao Min mentioned plans to reduce real estate-related taxes at the recent briefing, although specific figures were not provided. He highlighted the need for multiple policies to support the real estate sector. With major cities easing property purchase restrictions to boost demand, the focus remains on implementing effective measures to tackle the challenges facing the real estate market in China.
