Property sales pick up in some major cities

The real estate markets in some major Chinese cities, including Shanghai, have seen notable improvements in terms of customer enthusiasm and transaction volume, in response to a combination of policy measures aimed at stabilizing the property market, according to media reports on Wednesday.

As policy measures announced by both the central and local governments continue to take effect, market confidence will likely continue to improve, helping to further stabilize the real estate market and offering a boost for the overall economy, industry experts said.

In Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province, the market for new apartments continues to boom, with the total number of subscriptions for such homes reaching 8,405 units between the start of October and Tuesday, the same level as during boom periods, according to a post on the official WeChat account of the Shenzhen Municipal Government on Wednesday.

On average, 382 homes were subscribed per day over the past month, the post said, citing data from Leyoujia, a Shenzhen-based real estate firm. Based on this trend, the total subscription volume by the end of the month is expected to exceed 10,000 units, according to the post.

Over the past weekend, the daily online transaction volume in Shanghai exceeded 1,000 units for two consecutive days, with the volume on October 19 reaching 1,159 units and the number on October 20 surpassing 1,140 units, the Economic Information Daily newspaper under the Xinhua News Agency reported on Wednesday.

In Chengdu, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, a six-day on-site expo resulted in sales of 8,454 units, with the total transaction value reaching 13.2 billion yuan ($1.85 billion), according to the report.

"Generally speaking, there have been some positive signs in the real estate markets in some places, while other areas might still need time before the pace picks up," Yan Yuejin, vice president at the Shanghai-based E-house China R&D Institute, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

Yan noted that the latest policy adjustments have been implemented in an orderly fashion, with the main focus on reducing restrictions, lowering costs, and boosting demand, and the comprehensive policy measures are conducive to stabilizing the market in a sustained manner.

Since the end of September, various government departments, including the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and the People's Bank of China (PBC), the central bank, have announced a slew of measures to stabilize the real estate market and the economy. In the latest move, the PBC on Monday cut its benchmark lending rates by 25 basis points.

Song Ding, a research fellow at the China Development Institute, said that the combination of policy measures issued recently has significantly improved market expectations and sales in certain major cities. "The policy measures are very comprehensive. They are not just aimed at stabilizing the real estate market, but also the macroeconomy. They include interest rate cuts and other major adjustments," Song said.