GRA Market Weekly (2026-03-21)

Policy Watch

NFRA: accelerate a financing regime suited to the new model of real estate development

On 16 March, the Party Committee of the National Financial Regulatory Administration held an expanded meeting, stressing the prudent resolution of risks in key areas: advancing the de-risking of small and mid-sized financial institutions in a forceful, orderly and effective manner and firmly holding the line against defaults. The meeting called for further leveraging the "housing delivery" whitelist mechanism and accelerating the establishment of a financing regime suited to the new model of real estate development, supporting the lawful and compliant resolution of financing-platform debt risks, and rigorously preventing and cracking down on illegal financial activities to safeguard household savings.

Shanghai: down payment ratio for commercial property lowered

The PBoC Shanghai Branch, jointly with the NFRA Shanghai Bureau, issued the Notice on Adjusting the Minimum Down Payment Ratio for Commercial Property Purchase Loans in Shanghai, adjusting the city's commercial-property mortgage policy:

From 16 March, the minimum down payment ratio for purchase loans on commercial property in Shanghai (including mixed commercial-residential units) is adjusted to no less than 30%, lowering the entry threshold, supporting destocking in the office and retail market, revitalising existing assets and lifting investment confidence, while indirectly supporting the real economy. Banking institutions within the jurisdiction should set the specific down payment ratio for each loan based on the stipulated floor, their own operating conditions and customer risk profiles. In implementation, banks should take full account of in-progress transactions to serve customers effectively.

Jiangsu: development direction for real estate clarified

On 18 March, the CPC Jiangsu Provincial Committee and the Jiangsu Provincial Government released the Action Plan for Advancing High-Quality Urban Development in Jiangsu, which calls for actively advancing urban renewal - integrating renewal with industrial upgrading, improved living conditions and new business formats. It establishes planning adjustment mechanisms suited to spatial governance, use conversion and mixed use, implements technical rules for urban planning administration, and supports optimising indicators such as building density, green space ratio and building spacing. It deepens urban physical examinations and planning assessments, improves the alignment between dedicated urban renewal plans and territorial spatial plans, and refines detailed urban plans in step with district-level programming. It also advances provincial urban renewal legislation, strengthens the renewal planning and implementation system, builds a province-city joint project pipeline, and cultivates implementation entities integrating programming, design, construction and operations.

Shenzhen: housing provident fund rules revised

On 16 March, the revised Shenzhen Housing Provident Fund Administrative Measures were published, allowing employees to voluntarily raise their personal contribution ratio (capped at 12%) to increase provident fund loan quotas; the contribution ratio may be adjusted once per fund year, and the handling of contribution arrears disputes is optimised. The new rules take effect on 1 April.

Beijing: 1 m sqm of start-up space and 10,000 youth talent apartments in 2026

On 17 March, the Beijing Municipal Government website released the 2026 Work Priorities for Comprehensively Optimising Beijing's Business Environment. It proposes stepping up support for young entrepreneurial talent by revitalising idle space resources and providing 1 m sqm of start-up space; advancing youth apartment pilots by raising 10,000 youth talent apartments and encouraging districts to offer short-term transitional housing for job-seeking graduates; building high-standard innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems for young talent, including more attractive innovation blocks and "youth talent reception halls"; enhancing the city's ability to attract international talent through a one-stop service platform and a "service partner" mechanism, with stronger support in research funding, career platforms, commercialisation and living services; and cultivating more industrial talent by prudently delegating professional-title review authority, improving enterprise-led skills assessment, setting high-level innovation talent evaluation standards, and building a batch of municipal industry-education integration consortia.

Nanjing: new measures to stabilise the housing market

On 20 March, Nanjing rolled out six new property measures, including a "one project, one policy" approach to precisely optimise the business environment. At land sale stage: improving land preparation quality and early planning coordination to enable "site entry upon land acquisition" and "construction start upon land acquisition". At development stage: early guidance on construction drawing review, support for phased construction, and stronger front-loaded fire-inspection services. At sales stage: streamlined approvals, piloting "listing with mortgage attached" for completed homes under construction mortgages and "online signing with mortgage attached" for completed homes under ordinary mortgages, ensuring efficient market entry. The measures also include loan interest subsidies for housing trade-ins and expanded talent housing vouchers, further releasing housing demand and stabilising expectations.

Market Watch

Shanghai: third land auction batch of 2026 confirmed

Shanghai's third land auction will formally open on 21 April, with a combined starting price of RMB 6.549 bn. Detailed plot information will be released in stages, continuing the orientation of orderly land supply in core areas and stable market expectations; central SOEs, local SOEs and quality private developers are expected to participate.

NBS releases national real estate market data for January-February 2026

On 16 March, the National Bureau of Statistics released the Basic Situation of the National Real Estate Market for January-February 2026. In the first two months of the year, nationwide sales of newly built commercial housing totalled 92.93 m sqm, down 13.5% YoY, with sales value of RMB 818.6 bn, down 20.2% YoY - new-home sales continued to recede at the start of the year.

In February, among the 70 large and mid-sized cities, month-on-month declines in new home prices continued to narrow while prices fell year-on-year. The number of cities with rising or flat new home prices increased from the prior month; cities with MoM declines fell to 53, while cities rising or bottoming out increased to 10.

Tier-1 city new home prices turned flat MoM after a 0.3% decline the previous month: Beijing and Shanghai both rose 0.2%, Guangzhou was flat, and Shenzhen fell 0.3%. Tier-2 and tier-3 city new home prices fell 0.2% and 0.3% MoM respectively, with declines narrowing by 0.1 ppt in both cases. Across the 70 cities, 10 recorded MoM new home price gains and 7 were flat, together 9 more than the prior month.

In the secondary market, cities with MoM price declines fell to 66, decreasing for a second consecutive month. Tier-1 city secondary home prices fell 0.1% MoM, with the decline narrowing by 0.4 ppt: Beijing and Shanghai rose 0.3% and 0.2% respectively, while Guangzhou and Shenzhen fell 0.5% and 0.4%. Tier-2 and tier-3 city secondary prices fell 0.4% and 0.5% MoM respectively, with declines narrowing by 0.1 ppt.

Corporate Watch

PAG completes handover of Keqiao Wanda Plaza

Shaoxing Keqiao Wanda Plaza has formally completed its equity handover, taken over in full by a joint venture established by PAG, Tencent, JD Panda, Sunshine Life and other institutions. This marks the completion of the Keqiao asset within the c. RMB 50 bn portfolio transfer of 48 Wanda Plazas.

The transaction dates to May 2025, when the State Administration for Market Regulation unconditionally approved the consortium's acquisition, via a joint venture, of 100% equity in 48 Wanda Plaza project companies under Dalian Wanda Commercial Management - Keqiao Wanda Plaza among them. The shareholders of Shaoxing Keqiao Wanda Plaza Investment Co. changed on 11 February 2026: original shareholders Dalian Wanda Ruichi and Dalian Wanrui Enterprise Management exited entirely, with Dalian Zhixinmeng Commercial Management becoming the new 100% controlling shareholder. Look-through analysis shows the holding platform has brought in new capital including Guangzhou and Suzhou state-owned investors alongside the initial backers, forming a diversified ownership structure.

Shui On Land: Canadian insurance capital invests in Shanghai Huangpu commercial project

On 17 March, Shui On Land issued a supplementary announcement disclosing details of investments by Canada's Manulife Financial and other insurance institutions in its commercial project in Huangpu District, Shanghai. The total consideration is c. RMB 5.99 bn, structured through a joint venture holding the project assets - helping the project access onshore financing, reduce FX risk and financing costs, while advancing the company's asset-light transformation and optimising its capital structure.

Xiangyu Real Estate signs cooperation agreement with Huawei to scale whole-home intelligence in high-end residences

Xiangyu Real Estate Group and Huawei Device Co. formally signed a cooperation agreement in Shanghai. Building on a shared understanding of future high-quality living, the two parties will draw on Huawei's whole-home intelligence system, AI perception and whole-home coordination technologies to explore a new "home for life" living experience.

The strategic cooperation has already been deployed at scale across several of Xiangyu's flagship high-end projects, centred on Shanghai. Project clusters represented by Shanghai Tianyu Lanxiang, Shanghai Tianchen Yasong and Shanghai Suhe Qinlu have fully deployed Huawei's whole-home intelligence solutions, precisely targeting upgrade and high-end buyers.

COZI: Lianyang apartments make official debut

On 14 March, the COZI Lianyang apartments officially debuted. Located at 2795 Yanggao Middle Road, Pudong New Area, Shanghai, the property is the latest addition by Linghe Shengming's long-term rental apartment brand in Pudong's Lianyang international community. Adjacent to Fangdian Road Station on Metro Line 9, it focuses on 40-60 sqm premium and deluxe one-bedroom units, with design blending modern industrial style and Shanghai-style humanistic elements. The community offers 600 sqm of shared space including a gym, shared kitchen and a "beehive lobby" social area, and enjoys the Century Park ecology and a convenient living circle ringed by four major retail complexes. The Lianyang new community civic centre sits directly downstairs, with a football pitch, tennis courts and a 5 km landscaped running track through the community. The property provides 300 parking spaces, including 50 with EV chargers, convenient for both petrol and electric vehicles.