GRA Market Weekly (2025-05-17)

Macro Policy

CPC Central Committee and State Council General Offices issue Opinions on Continuing to Advance Urban Renewal Action

On 15 May, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued the Opinions on Continuing to Advance Urban Renewal Action, setting out eight main tasks:

Strengthening the renovation and reuse of existing buildings
Advancing the rectification and renovation of aging urban residential compounds
Undertaking the construction of complete communities
Advancing the renewal and renovation of aging streets, aging factory districts and urban villages
Improving urban functions
Strengthening the construction and upgrading of urban infrastructure
Restoring urban ecosystems
Protecting and passing on urban history and culture

The target is for the urban renewal action to achieve significant progress by 2030.

PBoC: broadening the use of affordable housing relending to consolidate property market stability

On 9 May, the PBoC released its Q1 2025 China Monetary Policy Report. Among its main policy priorities for the next stage, the central bank said it will broaden the scope of use of affordable housing relending, continue to consolidate the stabilisation of the property market, improve the foundational institutional framework for real estate finance, and support the build-out of a new development model for real estate.

Targeted Policies

Shenzhen: multiple special local government bonds issued, totalling RMB 16.021 bn

On 12 May, Shenzhen successfully issued multiple local government bonds - shanty-town redevelopment special bonds, other special bonds, healthcare special bonds, general-purpose special bonds and general bonds - totalling RMB 16.021 bn. Among them, the 2-year shanty-town redevelopment special bond had an issue size of RMB 150 m, an issue rate of 1.45%, a marginal cover ratio of 5.80x and an expected cover ratio of 1.46x.

Wuhan: housing loan services for young buyers optimised; second-home provident fund loan cap raised to RMB 1.2 m

On 12 May, the Wuhan Housing and Urban Renewal Bureau published a policy Q&A on its Notice on Continuing to Consolidate the Stabilisation of Wuhan's Property Market, responding to issues of public concern. The policy aims to optimise housing loan services for young buyers, raise the maximum second-home individual housing provident fund loan amount and expand the scope of purchase support for multi-child families, in order to promote stable property market development.

The Wuhan Housing and Urban Renewal Bureau said that, taking into account factors such as the unstable early-career incomes of young people working and starting businesses in the city, and in order to ease their purchase burden, commercial banks are encouraged to design differentiated housing loan products and diversified repayment arrangements to further relieve repayment pressure on young buyers. In addition, Wuhan's maximum second-home individual housing provident fund loan amount has been raised from RMB 1 m to RMB 1.2 m, in line with the city's first-home cap, strengthening support for contributing workers moving from renting to buying.

Guangzhou Nansha District: home purchase with school place formally implemented, a first among tier-1 cities

Following its announcement on 10 January this year that home purchases would come with school places, Guangzhou's Nansha District issued a notice on 28 April formally delivering on the commitment - the first district in a tier-1 city to implement such a measure. The notice specifies that where the parents or other legal guardians of school-age children and adolescents have purchased newly built commodity housing within Nansha District on or after 10 January 2025, and hold either a 100% share of that property or a 100% share jointly with the child; or where the parents or other legal guardians and the child own no property in the city but the child's grandparents have purchased newly built commodity housing within Nansha District on or after 10 January 2025, hold a 100% share of that property, and the child has been registered in the same household and living with the grandparents for more than three years - in each case an application may be made for a district-run public school place in the entry year of compulsory education in Nansha District.

Market Watch

Hangzhou: all three plots at May's first auction sell at reserve price for RMB 2.574 bn, with C&D replenishing again and CCCC Chengtou taking both "twin star" plots

On 13 May, Hangzhou held its first land auction of May, offering three plots all located in Qiantang District: one in the Eastern Bay New Town area for residential use, and two in the Jianghai Zhicheng area for commercial and service use. Total site area was 232.6 mu, total GFA 315,000 sqm and the combined starting price RMB 2.574 bn. The three plots were ultimately won at reserve price by the C&D and Eastern Bay New Town Construction consortium and by CCCC Chengtou (two plots), for total proceeds of RMB 2.574 bn.

The Eastern Bay New Town unit plots QT020102-08, 13, 14, 28 and 29, taken by the C&D and Eastern Bay New Town Construction consortium for RMB 1.76 bn, form a scarce contiguous riverfront site in Hangzhou and a priority development block for Qiantang District, bounded by Shili Road to the east, Liu'an Street to the south, Langtao Lane to the west and the 22nd Avenue greenbelt to the north. The site has an area of 94,300 sqm and GFA of 102,000 sqm at a plot ratio of just 1.08, with a starting price of RMB 1.76 bn and a starting accommodation value of RMB 17,300/sqm.

Beijing: Chaoyang District publicises plans for 45 residential plots, with total building scale of 4.2255 m sqm

The Chaoyang branch of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Planning and Natural Resources recently publicised comprehensive planning implementation schemes for six projects, covering Nanmofang, Shibalidian, the Dandian area of Dongba, Songyuli, Gaobeidian, Xiaohongmen, Fatou and other areas, with total planned land area of 313.55 hectares and total building scale of 4.2255 m sqm. Of these, 45 residential plots are involved - including resettlement and affordable housing sites - with total planned land area of 136.44 hectares.

Chaoyang District's land market has long run hot. In 2024, Chaoyang led the city on total GFA supplied, total GFA transacted and total transaction value. So far in 2025, Chaoyang has supplied one residential-use plot - the RMB 10 bn-plus Huangshanmudian site with total GFA of 282,700 sqm - and transacted two plots with total GFA of 455,700 sqm and total value of RMB 21.3295 bn. The batch publication of plans for 45 residential plots will also build up the district's land market pipeline for the second half of the year.

Shanghai's Greentown Chaoming Dongfang sells out on launch day at c. RMB 195,000/sqm, taking RMB 6.988 bn in a single day

On 11 May, Greentown Chaoming Dongfang, in a core location on the Xuhui riverfront in Shanghai, sold out on its launch day, taking RMB 6.988 bn in a single day. Of the 120 units released, the cheapest was priced above RMB 40 m and the most expensive at close to RMB 154 m, with six top-floor duplexes priced above RMB 100 m each, at an average price of RMB 195,000/sqm.

Notably, c. 67% of the buyers subscribing for Greentown Chaoming Dongfang were from outside Shanghai. Of the project's 191 valid subscribers, excluding three corporate buyers, 188 were individuals - 62 from Shanghai and 126 from other provinces. Data show that among non-local subscribers, wealthy buyers from Zhejiang were the most prominent, accounting for c. 25.4% of all out-of-province subscribers, followed by Jiangsu with 18 subscriptions, or c. 14.3%.

REITs Watch

Consumer REITs shine in 2025, taking six of the top ten performers year to date

The public REITs market has been active so far in 2025, with consumer REITs becoming a market focus on the strength of combining stable cash flows with growth assets. Choice data show that as at 15 May, six of the ten best year-to-date performers among the 65 listed public REITs were consumer REITs.

CICC Xiamen Anju REIT: expansion application accepted, covering a proposed acquisition of 2,689 rental homes

On 10 May, CICC Fund announced that CICC Xiamen Anju REIT had formally submitted a fund registration change request to the CSRC and an application to the Shanghai Stock Exchange for a fund product change and listing of expansion units, both of which have been accepted. Per the filing materials, the infrastructure projects to be acquired are all located on Xiamen Island: the Linbian Apartments government-subsidised rental housing project in Siming District and the Renhe Apartments public rental housing project in Huli District. The projects to be acquired have combined GFA of 89,917.98 sqm across 2,689 rental homes.

Project Watch

Xibu Lechao Zhiheyuan: 1,156 fully fitted government-subsidised rental homes released to the market

On 10 May, Xibu Lechao Zhiheyuan - the largest government-subsidised rental housing community near a metro entrance in Shanghai's Putuo District - released all 1,156 fully fitted units to the market. The project is just 200 m from Wuwei Road Station on Metro Line 11. It offers 1,156 rental homes across layouts including a 40 sqm compact one-bedroom, a 66 sqm comfortable two-bedroom, a 73 sqm convertible two-bedroom and a 113 sqm convertible four-bedroom.

Frasers Hospitality: serviced residence at Wuhan Heartland 66 opens with 60 units

On 11 May, Frasers Hospitality announced via its official account the opening of the serviced residence at Wuhan Heartland 66, developed and built by Hang Lung Properties and operated by Frasers Hospitality. The residence sits in the bustling core of Jinghan Avenue in Hankou, directly connected to the city landmark Wuhan Heartland 66, offering 60 units ranging from two- to four-bedroom layouts.

Market Data

April 2025: ordinary apartment supply keeps shrinking across 20 cities nationwide as rents recover

In April 2025, ordinary apartment supply continued to shrink across 20 cities nationwide while rents recovered. On supply, all cities except Qingdao saw declines to varying degrees, with six cities falling more than 30%, in descending order:

Chengdu -50.19%
Shijiazhuang -38.54%
Xi'an -38.53%
Chongqing -37.82%
Changsha -34.05%
Wuhan -30.25%

On rents, tier-1 cities averaged RMB 94.46/month/sqm, up 2.27% MoM; new tier-1 cities averaged RMB 41.59/month/sqm, up 2.81% MoM; and tier-2 cities averaged RMB 36.33/month/sqm, down 4.36% MoM.

Polarisation of purchasing power keeps widening across cities, with high-end housing showing a "the more prices rise, the more buyers buy" pattern

In Q1, the districts whose share of secondary home transactions rose MoM were mostly core urban areas: Beijing's Haidian and Dongcheng districts gained 0.9 and 0.36 percentage points of share respectively, while Shanghai's Xuhui District gained 1.33 percentage points, with transaction concentration in prime districts still rising. By contrast, peripheral urban areas held low shares that continued to fall MoM, with market activity cooling markedly.