China’s 2022 property investment falls for first time since 1999

CHINA’S property investment fell 10.0 per cent year-on-year in 2022, the first decline since records began in 1999, compared with a decline of 9.8 per cent in the first 11 months of the year, official data showed on Tuesday (Jan 17).

Property sales by floor area dropped 24.3 per cent in 2022 from the same period a year earlier, the most since the data became available in 1992, compared with a fall of 23.3 per cent during January-November, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

New construction starts measured by floor area declined 39.4 per cent year-on-year in 2022, versus a 38.9 per cent slump in the first 11 months of the year.

Funds raised by China’s property developers slumped 25.9 per cent on the year, after tumbling 25.7 per cent in January-November.

Chinese authorities have rolled out a flurry of support policies targeting homebuyers and property developers in recent weeks, to relieve a long-running liquidity squeeze that has hit developers and delayed the completion of many housing projects. REUTERS