China’s Q1 property investment falls 5.8% year-on-year

Residential buildings are seen along the Fourth Ring Road in Beijing, China. REUTERS/Jason Lee/File photo

BEIJING  – China’s property investment fell 5.8 percent from a year earlier in the first three months of 2023, from a 5.7-percent decline in January-February, official data showed on Tuesday.

Property sales by floor area declined 1.8 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of the year, versus a 3.6-percent fall seen in the first two months, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

New construction starts measured by floor area fell 19.2 percent in January-March from a year earlier, after a 9.4-percent drop in the first two months.

Funds raised by China’s property developers slumped 9 percent year-on-year in the first three months, after a 15.2-percent slump in January-February.

China’s property sector, once a key driver of the world’s second-largest economy, has been hit by a regulatory crackdown on developers’ high debt levels, which led to stalled housing projects and homebuyers boycotting mortgage repayments.